Waiting for the muse
I love the idea of the writing muse. When, what I choose to call the muse, is present, I sit down to write and without any conscious thought the words seems to magically appear on my computer or the paper on which I am writing. It is as if whatever is being written has been previously written by some other spirit and somehow stored in my DNA. Most days the muse elects not to pay a visit. This is one of those days. It is nearly 11:00 a.m. and I am just now starting to write. I have written brief emails, texts and Facebook Messengers notes. I have done many tasks which “had to be done” prior to writing. I changed the bed, did laundry, folded and put laundry away, ironed, cut out material for some new throw pillows, shoveled the entrance and the driveway leading to the garage, baked a pie, did the dishes and read for a bit. Although it is good to get all those tasks accomplished I would normally do most of them after I finished writing.
It is not just with writing that I am prone to wait until the spirit(s) moves me. Yet, I know that if the spirit (s) has not immediately visited me I need to start whatever task I am avoiding. Occasionally, once I start then it does seem as if the muse or the spirit(s) agrees to visit. Often, however, accomplishing a task means making a clear decision to do what I need to do and then doing it.
Last night I drove home in the ice storm just inching along until I reached the safety of my garage. Although I was a little anxious about driving in the ice, I had on leather soled boots and knew walking would be even more dangerous.
My experience is that 99% of the time there is no right time to accomplish a task which I do not feel like doing. Often, but not this morning, I am very intentional about doing the task I least feel like doing before I tackle any other tasks.
Yesterday I talked with clients who were waiting for the “right time” or the time, which felt “right” to begin a program of healing. One was dealing with drug and sexual addiction. One was dealing with nicotine addiction. Another was dealing with the need to let go of her judgmental anger and resentments.
As is my habit I attended a 12-step speaker meeting last night with some clients. The speaker was this very eloquent, strong woman who had gone to prison three times, neglected children, suffered abusive relationships and every possible indignity before finally surrending to working a 12 step program. As is true for many of us, she had said she wanted let go of the addiction many times, but she kept waiting for the God of her understanding to do the leg work of a recovery program.
Some of us do not wait for some higher being to do our leg work. We wait for parents, partners, therapists, doctors, medication or some other person, place or thing to take on the role of the muse. This might sometimes work for a short time, but eventually we have to decide to quit waiting for that muse and be very intentional about doing what we need to do to accomplish whatever goal is important to us. The “muse” might pay a visit, but we still have to do the tedious, step-by-step work.
Written January 13, 2018
I love the idea of the writing muse. When, what I choose to call the muse, is present, I sit down to write and without any conscious thought the words seems to magically appear on my computer or the paper on which I am writing. It is as if whatever is being written has been previously written by some other spirit and somehow stored in my DNA. Most days the muse elects not to pay a visit. This is one of those days. It is nearly 11:00 a.m. and I am just now starting to write. I have written brief emails, texts and Facebook Messengers notes. I have done many tasks which “had to be done” prior to writing. I changed the bed, did laundry, folded and put laundry away, ironed, cut out material for some new throw pillows, shoveled the entrance and the driveway leading to the garage, baked a pie, did the dishes and read for a bit. Although it is good to get all those tasks accomplished I would normally do most of them after I finished writing.
It is not just with writing that I am prone to wait until the spirit(s) moves me. Yet, I know that if the spirit (s) has not immediately visited me I need to start whatever task I am avoiding. Occasionally, once I start then it does seem as if the muse or the spirit(s) agrees to visit. Often, however, accomplishing a task means making a clear decision to do what I need to do and then doing it.
Last night I drove home in the ice storm just inching along until I reached the safety of my garage. Although I was a little anxious about driving in the ice, I had on leather soled boots and knew walking would be even more dangerous.
My experience is that 99% of the time there is no right time to accomplish a task which I do not feel like doing. Often, but not this morning, I am very intentional about doing the task I least feel like doing before I tackle any other tasks.
Yesterday I talked with clients who were waiting for the “right time” or the time, which felt “right” to begin a program of healing. One was dealing with drug and sexual addiction. One was dealing with nicotine addiction. Another was dealing with the need to let go of her judgmental anger and resentments.
As is my habit I attended a 12-step speaker meeting last night with some clients. The speaker was this very eloquent, strong woman who had gone to prison three times, neglected children, suffered abusive relationships and every possible indignity before finally surrending to working a 12 step program. As is true for many of us, she had said she wanted let go of the addiction many times, but she kept waiting for the God of her understanding to do the leg work of a recovery program.
Some of us do not wait for some higher being to do our leg work. We wait for parents, partners, therapists, doctors, medication or some other person, place or thing to take on the role of the muse. This might sometimes work for a short time, but eventually we have to decide to quit waiting for that muse and be very intentional about doing what we need to do to accomplish whatever goal is important to us. The “muse” might pay a visit, but we still have to do the tedious, step-by-step work.
Written January 13, 2018
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