Tender Loving Care for Your Muse (or Hyacinths for Your Soul)
Hi, I’m Laura, and I have a muse that shadows me constantly. It won’t let me sit still or sleep.
She drinks tea with me in the morning.
She goes on walks with me.
She nudges me when I watch TV.
She pokes at me to keep busy even after a long day of hiking.
I’m sure I have multiple muses. Sometimes they argue, play tug-of-war. Over me. I’m the rope.
My muse can be annoying to others, especially my husband. Maybe because he’s never seen or met my muse. He only sees the effects of having one around the house: messes, piles, dirty dishes, unfolded laundry.
A good day for me is having time devoted to creating: a story, a picture, a memory.
A good day is spent dreaming, planning, taking steps toward completing an enjoyable project.
A bad day is when too much attention must be given to the mundane–all my time squashed by housework.
That’s why nobody should give my house the white glove test.
That’s why I’ve embraced the motto “A clean house is a sign of a dull life.”
That’s why when my kids were little, our house bulged at the seams with colored paper, glue, gel pens, popsicle sticks, experimental cupcakes, dollhouses, Bionicles, Legos, art fairs, and issues of Family Fun magazine.
That’s why my kids weren’t the best at mopping floors and cleaning their rooms.
But each child thrives in some area of creativity, learning to follow his/her own Muse, from poetry to lyrics to rap, from watercolors to interior design, from journaling to blogging to screenplay writing, from chess strategies to innovative mechanical solutions and techno-music to visual effects and filmmaking, from cooking to acting/directing, from hospitality to crochet.
*********
“If thou of fortune be bereft,
and in thy store there be but left two loaves,
sell one, and with the dole,
buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.
-John Greenleaf Whittier, poet
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We need both. I tend to lean more toward the hyacinths, though.
In the upcoming months, I’ll be featuring the ingenuity of numerous creative guests, including artists, authors, musicians, interior designers, actors, business people, hospitality experts, cooks, quilters, engineers, teachers, music therapists, and more, to learn how they use imagination in their daily lives and share their visions with their communities.
They’ll answer the following questions:
1. What do you love to create?
2. Where do you get your ideas?
3. How do you create? Say something about your creative process.
4. How do you bring creativity into your daily life?
5. Any tips for others who want to create (write/draw/design, etc.)?
To whet your appetite, here’s a taste of what’s to come . . .
~~An author who creates century-old story worlds with maps, music, and musings
~~An artist who’s just as comfortable sculpting polymer clay trees as she is painting Tom Petty portraits (& other stars), and also “draws” the best from her art students
~~An interior designer whose creativity thrives in surrounding wounded women with a healing home environment
~~Engineers who mentor students in robotics and creating innovative solutions for global problems
~~An educator who considers problems as the fertile soil for creativity in a cross-cultural school environment, using ingenuity and the arts to change lives
~~An author whose story worlds are steeped in the Old West or WWII history, some inspired by her ancestors’ lives
~~A journalist/food columnist/crafter/Mom who creates and captures memories for friends and family
~~A painter whose palette mixes business with pleasure, painting nature as glimmers of hope for a broken world
~~A writer who embraces and celebrates ethnic diversity in her neighborhood through shared art and cooking
. . . And much more!
So whether you have a muse that plagues you or you just want to be inspired, please watch for my future posts!
I hope you and your Muse join me on this journey.
************
“Do the stuff that only you can do . . .
The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you.
Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision.
So write and draw and build and play and dance and live
as only you can.”
– Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline,
commencement address
to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, 2012
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If you like to touch each day with your imagination, if creative living makes you fell alive and whole, this blog is for you.
If you don’t feel creative, but would like to be, if you want to be inspired, this blog is for you.
I’m delighted to have you visit my website; I consider it an honor. I hope you’ll find something here that encourages and inspires you, leading you along your own path of creativity.
I invite you to join me on this journey, and share it with others as well. I’d also love to hear about your own creative journey and interests.
What do you create? What do you want to create?
I’d love to hear from you!
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Ever musing . . . Seize the muse!
Or do I dare say . . . A-muse-ingly yours,
Laura
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I am looking forward seeing all these stories of others who’s muses confuse, infuse, and amuse.
Ahh, an artist after my own heart! Can’t wait to see what your blog holds…
Looking forward to reading the posts. I am glad you sent me your link.
Looking forward to your posts!
How wonderful! May many blessings be upon you as you travel this new journey.
Reminds me of my Muse, though it often strikes in the middle of the night.
Mine strikes in the middle of the night, too! Thanks to all of you for joining me on this journey.
This will be so interesting! Best wishes to you!
I’m inspired to be inspired!
Looks great!
Thank you!
DEAR LAURA,
I am writing and performing a solo play on the life and stories of L. Frank Baum and hope to bring it to Wisconsin in 2019 in honor of LFB’s 100 anniversary and passing. The stories you share are many of the wonderful and amazing stories that I have included in my solo piece.
Thank you for your wonderful and inspirational blog!
I’m so glad you found inspiration here, Raymond! Thanks for telling me about the play. I’d love to see it! Please send more information.