Got Muse?

Posted by Brad Osborne on May 26, 2019 · 3 Comments 

For readers that are familiar with my article, “The Return”, you know that it has been quite a long time since I have contributed to this blog. Over five years. I had kept writing the whole time, but it was sporadic at best. Most of it an outpouring of sentiment after the loss of my brother. Though, at the time I was not sharing my writing, it did help me to reconcile my grief. Maybe that period of time and type of writing served its purpose. But through it, I had stopped sharing my words. And, there were long periods of time when I did not write at all. I have not revisited this topic because I finally figured out all the reasoning behind what happened. I want to talk about what happened next.

If asked about the absence, I might be tempted to blame it on my muse. That whisper in my ear that triggers my thought process. That needling itch to put words to my thoughts. The tickling of abstraction yearning for clarity and enunciation. But that is not where the fault should lie. It lies with me. The muse was ever present, yet I had somehow stopped listening. If asked to write an article a few weeks ago, I may have struggled to find a topic or opinion I felt led to speak about. I couldn’t hear my muse anymore.

Then I started writing again. The first article was easy. I had to explain where I had been for so long. It all but wrote itself. But the time I had set aside to focus on the words I was writing was the stillness that my muse needed. I could hear the voice now. Every article or poem I wrote spawned other ideas and creativity. I can no longer sit to write an article without a note pad handy to catch the subtle musings I hear so clearly now. Now I must pull myself away from my desk, as hours pass with little notice. I have sat to write an article and gotten an idea stuck in my head so deep that, after finishing one article, I can’t help but put pen to paper until my whole day is sacrificed. Maybe this is the stuff that was all bottled up and now that the cork has popped it is gushing like a smitten prom queen at Homecoming. I just don’t know. But I am happy to be back.

Now I am over-mused, if that is a word. Scattered thoughts, ideas, and half sentences written across the pages of my journal like the scrawling of a child. Articles written and waiting for publication but worrying now that I am posting to often. Feeling pressed to get everything down for fear I will lose the faint voice that feeds me. Not focused enough to write a series as I have in the past. Scared my silence will return. I feel like a pendulum has swung well past center and I fear its return trip.

For my readers, I will apologize in advance for the roller coaster ride of topics, styles, and thoughts that is my blog. Please keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times. I just don’t want to stop, because I have seen what happens when you hit the brakes. The things we never write are as seeds on barren soil. Fruitful for no one.

My only advice? If you have stopped writing or are not feeling your muse, just write. Write anything. Writing begets writing. That sweet voice will return when you focus on your words. If you are overwhelmed with creative thoughts that your muse has gifted, share it all.  And in both cases, make time to be still in the moment. Our muse often whispers rather than shouts. We hear it most in the stillness that rarely finds its way into our busy lives. Happy writing and reading!

Filed under General · Tagged with blog, blogging, calm, chaos, creativity, ideas, inspiration, life, Life lessons, muse, quiet, still, writer's block, writing