Muse or Madness

My mind constantly wanders.  Whose doesn’t?  We are all faced with daunting schedules of daily tasks, looming deadlines and numerous to-do lists that we all jot down in our desperation to keep our lives straight.  But for me, in addition to those usual mental distractions, my mind is frequently occupied with story ideas, character descriptions, and conversations.  This sent me on a quest to discover if other authors have the same experience.  Amazingly I found a variety of blog posts and discussions revolving around the idea of a muse.  This led me to research the definition of exactly what a muse is, and I found several descriptions.  One of them being “inspiration” or “a state of deep thought or dreamy abstraction”.   The perfect explanation of the insistent voice that fills my head with rich story details at any given moment of the day, or night.  Whether the ideas are inspirations for a project I am writing at that moment or suggestions for the future, “my muse” strikes randomly and quite often.  It forces me to stop and listen.  It is persistent, and productive, if I pay attention.

Creativity is fickle.  Being prepared for that unexpected spark of inspiration is a must.  Recording my random thoughts is not always easy, especially when I don’t have my computer at my disposal.  But I have learned to make use of unique resources to record my “voice” before it disappears, taking all inspiration with it.  I have used my Notes app on my phone churning out pages while sitting at my children’s sports games, a napkin at a restaurant for lists and longhand, and even my church bulletin during the Sunday morning sermon (sorry Pastor).  When I am inundated with details I can’t deny my need to write them down.  If I do, I risk the chance of losing something that could turn out to be integral to my story plot or characters.  The worst is when my muse wakes me in the middle of the night, causing me to toss and turn, spending sleepless hours debating if I should leave the comfort of my bed or hope that I can remember everything in the morning when I wake.  But I can’t complain, because without my muse I wouldn’t have any stories to tell.

I recently read a great blog post that resonated clearly.  It discussed the idea of how to treat your muse.   As an author it’s a gift, a basic and intuitive form of storytelling that should be appreciated.  That’s why I have learned to listen at all times, to pay attention to the journey my mind takes when it begins to wander.  Creativity can be honed into a perfected craft, but it is not an on-command art.  It takes patience and understanding.  I am thankful for my constant stream of ideas and grateful that I get to share them with others.

Everyone has their own muse.  For some of us, our voices are just louder, clamoring to be heard.  But if you stop and listen, even if your voice is just a whisper, you will hear it.  And when you do, you may just find yourself on the way to becoming an unexpected author.