After the muse swap a few weeks ago, I began to think about the definition of a muse. What are they? Friend or foe? Helpful or distracting? Laurie Doctor, an artist and calligrapher posted this great poem on her website that comes as close to a great answer as I can find:
This Work
My friend, the poet
asked me
what I was doing.
I said, you know,
the visual form
of mumbling, the verbal
version of stumbling.
Leaving my hands
to their own devices,
closing my eyes,
transforming vices
into color and verse
Saying this work is my prayer.
Your muse is the part of your heart (or soul, or spirit) that isn’t influenced by purpose–not by selling you work, or pleasing others, but only by the power of creation. You can certainly re-tune your muse to your purpose, but when your purpose doesn’t match your values, your life’s purpose, stuff goes wrong. That isn’t about your muse. That’s about you.
Another view by the poet William Stafford:
–Quinn McDonald is a writer and raw-art journaler. She is publishing a book, Raw Art Journaling–Making Meaning, Making Art, in June of 2011. North Light Books is the publisher.
