I could start this writing with a catchy line, but I don’t seem to be too inspired to come up with one. I guess I’ll have to put the blame on the muse. I thought she hadn’t visited me in a while, but since I started writing lately, I feel a sudden struck of luck with my hands. They type away, at times, harmonic sentences. Other times, cringe, but that’s why we have the backspace button… Or our private notes. Though, let me just get to the centre of the lollipop for you; Muses. What are they, and why do famous artists, philosophers, scholars, even scientists, all seem to have referenced them, and be so in need of them?
Tracing back to ancient Roman-Greek history, specifically where there are written passages that refer to muses, there is no real proof of their mythical-existence from before. Even the Greek passages state their origins are left to the unknown. Homer used a muse in the beginning of Odyssey, calling upon “the daughter of Zeus to sing” (if Homer needed a muse, then who are we to deny one?). From then on, we’ve learned to know about groups of muses, usually sisters, which later were given names, and specific purposes by Hesiodes. So if we have a muse for poetry, for music, for astronomy etc., that means we’ve personified every notion of human knowledge in these deities, therefore, we can assume all as pre-existing, and therefore can somehow “tune” ourselves into their wavelengths, and achieve this knowledge? While my thought sounds good, I don’t think it’s like that exactly.
“Calliope, The Muse of Epic Poetry”. Charles Meynier, circa 1797-1798
I’ve caught myself red-handed multiple times praising the muse. The muse appears to be a “higher-calling” that most of us can’t explain. Or don’t want to explain. If we know that ideas aren’t original, though there is originality in every version of what we’ve personally thought, it feels quite magical to be able to credit our own flashes of inspiration, coming from a place of the undefined and obscure. I would like to think that my most favourite song I’ve written was birthed with strategic and skilful purpose, however I can only recall it being a poem written on a bus ride while then, just sitting at the piano one night, playing the right notes, at the right time. It seems pretty random to me thinking about it, yet the feeling of writing the poem, and then allowing it to be conceived further with music, can only be described as euphoric. Most of the times, the way things occur during the inspirational bursts are hazy. And this “haziness” can feel like a trance-like state. As the Japanese have a word for it: Ikigai. There’s a great book about this Japanese way of living, essentially written in a way to “help” us Westerners understand this philosophy. In short, Ikigai is mastering a state of flow, being stress-free essentially, by discovering your own purpose. But for me, stating “the Muse didn’t appear to me today” is just a fancier way of saying, “I tried, and didn’t get anything done”. And that’s totally fine though.
The Muse however is an abused notion, in the sense that many have used it as a way of deceiving themselves. They can credit, or, blame her. The “Muse” can often be misused as a deity, as if she is selective upon the few she chooses to visit, and in a way doesn’t “spend” time on the talentless. In ancient efforts, in order for someone to reach her, they had to make a sacrificial ritual; Spill the blood of a goat by the third moon of Spring, and you will be granted with the greatest idea for a tragic play to ever have been written! So, with that in mind the Muse really doesn’t care about everyone creating, she just wants her selected bunch to appraise to her all their wonder and glory, and also make sure to sacrifice with bloodshed. Because, that is how we made her.
Why have we personified our talents into her? Are we unable to accept just how good we are? Or, perhaps when failure seems to be the heavier feeling, it’s much more easy to say, “the muse didn’t visit me today” I guess. Making sure that we don’t make ourselves responsible for lack of creativity. When really, we’re just being too hard on ourselves. We don’t need the muse to write, and we don’t need to blame ourselves when we don’t write. What we need to do is, learn to be content with the fact that not everything we write will be exceptional, and not all that we write is horrible. Writing is a practice as my friend
had stated in one of his notes here on Substack. It takes time to write, and sometimes you just have to write for yourself, without judgement. And that applies to everything. From your daily tasks, to your creative hobbies, to your work ethics, to your relationships. Being free, letting all be as they are, without having to “pressure” situations, is the utmost freeing realisation of all.While I would usually end my thoughts with the above paragraph, and call it a substack post, I’m going to take this one a bit further for you.
So, what happens when we actually personify the muse? Meaning, what happens when someone does actually become a muse for us? I have a great personal example to start off with; Enter I, the more creative friend of the group and enter, then, a dear friend of mine named Nefely. For some reason, and even for one year where we were roommates, taking photos of her was something always easy for me, and always inspired me to experiment further not just on her, but to explore photography in new ways I couldn’t imagine. Taking photos of Nefely always feels like a play-date, and for the past 10 years, I call her my muse. Not just between ourselves, but to others also. Why? Because there’s just this chemistry between us that helps me be the creator, and she the pretty-little-thing that doesn’t have to worry much about anything else, rather than just being pretty. She can be herself, and so can I. Naturally, this works, with great flow, and no pressure at all.
35mm film photo of Nefely by me, 2021
We all know that great artists had, great muses. You can read some examples here of Artists-Muses.
So, is it good enough to say that people can inspire people to a point, where they can influence their artistry? Is this why we choose to name someone our own muse? Do we feel an admiration to them? What exactly is it that draws us to them? Does it just happen, like a love at first sight? Do we understand that by creating a “flow” with another person, is in actuality something very significant?
Or, you can be like Frida Kahlo, who actually made herself her own muse. And that is quite sauvage.
Thank you for reading yet another “MISUSE” piece. If you enjoyed this one, there are some others hyperlinked in the paragraphs of this piece, if you hadn’t already clicked on them. May I entertain you with the thought of reading the previous one, in case you haven’t? It’s called “MISUSING BEAUTY”, and is one of my favourites so far.
What a deep dive! I got a lot out of the Greek History section and learned a lot. The last paragraphs were right on. All creative people need and have a Muse, or they would never create. For me, my writing is 'for my muse' even though she will never see a word I write and might even be dead. She, the muse, is that extraordinary person in your present or from your past that makes you want to create beauty, any kind of beauty, but always artistic beauty. We write for our Muse in an effort to please her in ways we never could simply by loving her ...