THE WORLD is Our Muse

Hello readers, I love you! Those of you who sneak about reading me when you don’t know I can see you (I saw that, cute), those of you who follow me and comment, and those of you who hate my guts but like a bad train wreck you just can’t look away. I get that when I try to dance too, but I’m not going there today.

Use what you know as a muse, This isn’t just about occupation or where you live, this isn’t just about sappy feelings (yes I’ve been sappy lately, leave me alone already! I still fantasize on various torture techniques at the blah-job), I’m talking about those you disagree with, fight with, lock horns, etc.

We all have our opinions; they matter because it’s who we are. And no matter how much we might want to connect, there will always be conflict. It’s unavoidable. You’re logic verses mine, your hundred facts against my hundred facts. We could spend a week just writing enough online posts to fill a book each on our side along with a work’s cited. Sometimes it’s kept classy, sometimes it’s messy. We pull back asking ourselves why do we put ourselves out there only to draw back with a headache? There are those days where we just get so overwhelmed with what we see as stupidity, and then those on the other side come back with their version. I use to shy away from it after putting myself out there too much, not anymore. Now I just keep it contained.

You see it’s all about regulation. That seems to be everyone’s favorite new word these days next to swag (one of the times I’ll ever use that word). The key is to pick your fights, what hill do you wish to defend? And how far are you willing to go to defend it?

I get pretty worked up over some issues, but I do try to keep it classy. Not always easy, but I’m getting better at it. Remember that those you lock horns with are people with good hearts and are dedicated to their creeds just like us. Give them their due, a lot of people these days are apathetic, at least they have passion.

But use it. A lot of the times these people are writers too, and they will use you in some way or another. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up slowly tortured to death in one of their stories, again all about being a muse. I’m cool with it because I write what I know.

How does one justify the things that’s accepted by modern day society that I detest? Well start a debate and find out. People can justify anything, if you saw the world the way I do, you would know exactly what I mean. We’re some sick puppies, and not in a cute fun way (like me :^D) The world is our muse, we learn from it. Authors say we shouldn’t write what we know, but write about what we don’t, or something along those lines. Good advice, but also try knowing something that is outside your knowledge.

Think in the terms of being a FBI profiler (or as they are actually referred to as, a supervisory agent). Those guys put themselves in the mind of a killer in order to catch him/her. They start with how the UNSUB (unknown subject) looks at everything. From a pack of smokes to the way blood cascades down a window. How does a male UNSUB think of women? What is it that drives their urge crazy? Why do they want to kill? Is it just an urge? Or is there a deeper reason? How do they justify killing? When the urge is fed, what do they have to say for themselves?

People are who they are, good, bad, or most of the time gray. Everyone has a different truth, different common sense. We’re never going to understand everyone and why they believe what they do, but we can pick brains, and use it. Hell, you can make your protagonist a person who’d completely disagree with in real life. I actually suggest it. Writing outside of our comfort zone is a good thing. If we can make a believable and even loveable character from someone we’d oppose in the real world, then we are creating something amazing.

This goes back to my comment of making mince-meat out of lemons. What bothers you? What do you stand for and against? If you find my opinions stupid, ignorant, or just plain wrong, then why do you stick around? Am I like a trained ape to you? It’s okay if I am. That makes me a muse. I’m okay with it because I’m guilty of it too. The world can be beautiful, but it can be so very dark, and not in an entertaining way. We are creators making art to move or entertain each other. We may not all be rocket scientists, but everyone of us have our own evil brilliance. We contribute a piece of ourselves that non-artists can’t. We’re special, and so we feed on the world.

One more thing in honor of someone I once cared about who left me on bad terms a few years ago who recently came back to mend fences. A lot of us are hurt in a way that’s destructive to our lives and those around us. We push each other away instead of embracing each other. Even if you’re not an artist, you can inspire or be inspired. You can use your pain to help others, and you can find refuge in the arms of someone who cares. None of it’s easy; life gives us a shit sandwich heavy on the shit-sauce. And we’re not allowed to complain or take it to work. We’re supposed smile and not let it show while it tears our insides apart like a pack of hellhounds.

The world is also your muse. Use it. Thrive in it. It’s a dark world to everyone, no one has a monopoly on suffering. Not you not me. However, in pain we are united. I’m thankful I can get to know someone who mattered very much to me all over again. The person I saw that she couldn't see now thrives. She cared enough to change her life, and she didn’t do it alone. She found inspiration from caring people, and she wanted to better herself. She’s my hero.

I have known her in darkness, and now I know her in the light.

Life's a muse, you’re a muse, I’m a muse, those we love and hate are muses. Take it all in and create, in words, in paint, or just by living your life. I mentioned non-artists earlier in the post, that’s kind of an oxymoron when you think about, almost everyone is an artist. We create it by living, and if we recognize it, and accept it, we can thrive. And that’s a story worth writing about :^)

The Muse Unleashed

Here shortly I will be interviewing one of the best authors in the market today, Gregory Norris. His 26 short-story collection, The Fierce and Unforgiving Muse has inspired me to ask the ultimate question; what is the muse?

The Chuck Norris of writing, Gregory Norris

For everyone it's different.
For some, it's a sexy stud or a smokey vixen in a red dress who sings cabaret. *Whistles innocently*
For others, an object, a place, or some awesome music.
But, what is it really?

I'm sure every artist (not just limited to writing), has a different view on what a muse is. (I can't even write this post without thinking of the episode of 3rd Rock From the Sun where Dick becomes the muse for the art class.)
Granted anyone who can Google can find the origin of the meaning, but I have yet to see an actual explanation. Well guess what, I think I figured it out (yes, I am a slow learner :^D)

It is the “Force”. I think when George Lucas wrote Star Wars, he use the idea of the force as a way of putting his muse into print.



Think about it. The force is all around us, inside of us, constantly speaking to us. Now most people don't know how to use the force. But for those who do, become Jedi or Sith. Or in realistic terms, artists.
When we writers get the warm and fuzzies, the blood pumping excitement of slinging ink and bringing it to life, we can feel the muse pulsating within our veins. It is flowing through us. Speaking to us. And at this point in time, we are actually listening, and following it's command.

Now this doesn't mean we can't give the muse an avatar. I like my Jessica Rabbit avi. And I love my music (huge selection). But when we get down to it, it is in us. Coursing through our blood, doing Jumping Jacks in our brain while juggling geese. Hey some people juggle geese, just sayin'. The problem with writer's block quite a bit of the time, is that the muse is sleeping. Why?

Well here's why for a lot of us. The muse needs rest just like we do. But it also needs exercise. And yes that leads to the golden rule of write every day and write often. But we can't always do that. Even though I really need to cut down on my Facebook time (I need help :^p ), I have even used my writing skill a lot in comments. Half of which no one ever sees for multiple reasons. Also, I will read a link from an article that will spin a new idea which will force me to write something. The muse can be sooooo strong. And unlike force, it's okay to give in to the dark side.

With the muse, there are no rules that say we can't cast lightning from our finger tips, or force choke an insubordinate officer of the Empire. Though not of us writers play nice, I have fond more in common with my writer friends through being an author than I would have if I never pushed myself as an author to begin with.

The writers I love and get along with the most, we have some different opinions to say the least. But I am so thankful everyone of them because we are brothers and sisters in ink. We are muse-users, muse-casters, muse-slaves... okay I think the last one is more me :^D.

We don't have the good vs. evil. We unite. At the end of the day, we're family. When nothing else could have brought us together, the power of the muse connects us. And copious amounts of chocolate and coffee. Okay, so coffee and sweets also have a role in writer/artist connections, but that's besides the point.

The muse is a great ally. It can be our mistress, our guardian, our compass, and most of all, the creative surge that transforms us into the very thing our naysayers said we couldnever become (oh I have so many).

BTW, naysayers are coffee for the muse.

There is a reason why the pen is mightier than the sword. Because through the power of the muse, the pen can create worlds, and it can destroy them. It is the light saber of the writer. (Or a brush for a painter, ect)

So fellow scribes, painters, sculptors, artists, what is the muse to you?

P.S.
I'm a Jedi in my own mind!

Words, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness

By Dale Eldon

 Authors and the writing that spawns to life from their fingertips are connected. Every author has a different take on how it works, but from my point of view, the author and the muse are simpatico.


The core element for good writing has to come from happiness. In order for the right words to appear, the love has to be at the center of the core.


In order for any decent writing to come from me, the muse and I have to be in sync. It is impossible for her and I to coexist if we are not in harmony. The life we share is symbiotic. Each needing the other to become more then we would be apart. A lot like a good marriage. The problem here, is that the muse is a part of my mind. Sure she gets fired up over external inspirations, but she is basically an alter ego. So when I am in a slump, usually so is she. We are that connected. No matter how much I try to be happy, or even if I am in a decent mood it just isn’t the same as being happy naturally. The muse craves the same things that I do. Love.


I love my family. I love my friends. But so often I feel like a drifter in the middle of the ocean. I am sprawled out in a life raft looking through pictures of better times as my body slowly dies of dehydration. Here I am surrounded by water, and I can’t drink any of it. That is how my life feels. I have plenty of reasons to be happy, but I still cannot have these reasons to embrace. They are like the water. I can see them, but I cannot touch them.


My muse withers with me. In symbiotic relationship, we need each other to survive. We are not just compatible, if that were the case, then we could leave the other and no damage would be done. We would just seek out a new partner. But like soul mates, we hinge on the other without draining ourselves. Together we are a force. The muse, however, cannot pull me out of the slump. As strong willed as she is, my emotions ultimately control her.


Its strange, a lot of the time I don’t realize just how far out in the vast aquatic desert I have drifted. The longer I am stranded, the worst my mental condition becomes. The brain parasite called, “self pity” slowly eats away at any hope of happiness. It then continues to make me jaded, and diminishes my zest for the wonders of life. The once happy-go-lucky me is now becoming an empty shell for this parasite to live.


As much as I may have going for me (as I have been told by supporters), I am still drifting in this raft. From time to time I will see a search and rescue chopper fly overhead, but usually they don’t see me. I try to get their attention, but it is useless. Then when all hope is lost I see an angel. So far every time an angel appears to me, she is only around for a short time. And every time she gives me a little strength to push on. And again, an angel has appeared to me. The purest to visit yet, and again I feel my soul being rejuvenated. There is never a guarantee if the angel will stick around. There are so many factors that have to work for her to. But this angel is different than the others. She is extra special. Her grace makes me forget the raft, the dehydration, the self-pity; suddenly I am reforged.


I don’t know how long this angel will stay with me. What I do know is, for every moment I have with her, I am that much more thankful for. Somehow this beautiful creation of God has opened something up in my mind that I cannot open on my own. Not even my muse can reach this area. My dear angel who doesn’t have to try, she is a natural at bringing me back to life. And when I am in her presence I the aquatic desert become a tropical paradise.


So, what have I learned? How have I changed?


I have learned that no matter how much I work on bettering myself, that I will never be the man I want or need to be on my own. I need my angel. Just like my muse, I need that simpatico relationship. For I alone cannot live without her. One person cannot live in a symbiotic relationship. It is impossible. Perhaps angels are suppose to come and go until one decides to stay. Maybe this angel is the one. Maybe not. Regardless, I am thankful for her. Even if she only here to wake me up and show me this side of life.


It is easy to forget who we are as depression eats away at our soul. And like any good parasite the self-pity is inconspicuous as it slowly destroys us. The words cannot flow without love, and without love there is not happiness.


For some writers this darkness works for them. And I am glad that they have that as a muse. But for a lot of us we need that love. It can appear in many forms. I talk of my angel who is a beautiful woman from another country with view point that is refreshing, and creative. She can child like, but still be adult. She is intelligent, and graceful. This someone I would love to get to know more, and spend as much time with her as God will allow. That for me is the love. I have a beautiful daughter who also inspires me, though at this point I am in a position where I can’t be there for her. And though she the most important thing in my life, I need to be able to be apart of hers. And I cannot do that in this raft.


A lot of us have our own problems. No one has a monopoly on suffering. With that said pain is something that unites us. The despair that becomes the bane of our existence, is with most writers. Just because we may have a different way of looking at life, doesn’t limit our despair. In a lot of ways it increases it. A lot of writers become more sensitive to the world around them, they have to if they want their characters to come life. Even if the author is writing a non-fiction title, they can get so wrapped up in a person that they are writing about that they can feel their pain. Writers are conduits of emotions, ideas, and philosophies. We absorb mindsets that we may not even agree with, we take in the world of others, understanding their world better then they might themselves.


It is important to find that love. To find that ballast. Maybe even several loves. Like children, spouse, and other family, God; just like a tanker having more than one anchor to hold it in place. Love is the ballast that keeps us steady, it is what drives us, and completes us. Even if we are without what we need most, we need to keep our eyes on it at all times.