When the Muse Leaves the Building (& Takes the Genius with her...)
Posted: Wednesday, August 11, 2010
by Camille Strate
JoyZAChoice
So whaddya do when you’re flat out of ideas? Every artist I’ve ever met, (including me), reaches that black hole at some time or another. The juices aren’t flowing. The Muse has left the house and taken the Genius with her. They’re probably sunning on some white sand beach, sipping cocktails and being fanned by some tanned and deliciously muscled cabana boy. Hussies. Meanwhile, the puny human is sitting in her studio staring blankly out the window wondering why she ever thought she could do this in the first place.
Nothing.
HOLY HANNAH! WHERE THE HELL IS THAT GENIUS ANYWAY???
Funny thing about all that stuff is the more you ‘try’, the less you flow. That’s the nature of the Genius. Ya just can’t force it. Sometimes you just gotta give it a rest. Leave it alone. Let it do whatever it’s doing without nagging at it. Kinda like some guys. You know the ones; you ask and ask and ask for ‘em to do something and they don’t. Then, about the time you give up asking, they do it. GEEZ. What IS that anyway? Never have figured that one out. But I know it works. Just ask ‘em and leave ‘em alone. They’ll get to it. Ya just have to remember that their ‘time’ is different from yours. It’s that whole wiring thing or some such. Who knows.
So yea. The Genius is kinda like that too. Now I’m figuring that the Genius has no gender. I always think of the Muse as a ‘she’, but who can be sure? Just cuz the Greeks said so? There’s this really funny lady named Jill Badonsky who has this really terrific site where she offers all kinds of cool stuff to get the juices flowing. She also wrote a terrifically funny book called “The Nine Modern Day Muses ( & a Body Guard)". Very funny stuff. This lady has it goin’ on when it comes to creative juices and all that jazz. But I’m pretty sure even she has her moments. After all, she IS just a puny human. Just like you and me.
Anyhoooo …
This state of blank has been goin’ on for a while now. So I started kinda ‘watching’ what I was doing when I’d sit here and get nothing to come. I’d do all that stuff (see long-winded paragraph above) and then some. Even started pouring that glass of vino in the afternoon (as opposed to waiting til evening). Kept saying, “It’s five-o-clock somewhere." (ya gotta love those crazy country singers.) So I’d pour that glass of vino and fire up the stereo and wander around FaceBook (or some other ridiculous time-waster), hoping to inspire myself. The internet is great for that kinda thing. Lots of useless stuff…all for the vacant mind to meander aimlessly. Not knockin’ it. Just sayin’.
Finally…got to thinking about something my very fave Creative Writing teacher said back in high school. She’d given us a project on the first day of class that was to carry through the entire year. We were to keep a journal and were required to write in it every single day (weekends included). We were also required to bring it to class each day, whereby she might ask for them without notice. She then went on to explain that it DID NOT MATTER what we wrote. We could scribble, scratch, draw, doodle, rant, holler, use single words, ANYTHING AT ALL. Just as long as we made an entry every day. After defining parameters, she said, “The biggest obstacle in any writer’s life is what is most commonly called “Writer’s Block". This is not only common, but pervasive. And it has been my experience that the best way to break that block is to write. Even if you have nothing to say or nary an idea. JUST WRITE. You don’t have to show it to anyone. You need not fear what may appear to be utter nonsense. JUST WRITE. This, my young geniuses, is how one breaks down the blocks that come between you and your gift. USE IT."
I will never forget her. Or her many lessons. Best part about all that? She was absolutely right. It DOES work. And for all the silly stuff I might ‘try’ to do when that block shows up…it is when I recall those words that the wall comes a-crumblin’ down.
What have you got to lose?
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Camille, you are so right! Those pesky muses must be sitting somewhere laughing down at all us peons most of the time. Once they have their chuckle we may get a short visit until they are off on their own again. Darn them all!Grace
I've experienced the same thing, Camille, feeling like I had nothing going on until I actually let myself write any old thing and the flood gates open again!
Fresh, funny and inspirational. Thanks for the pep-talk. I think my muse is with yours on that white sandy beach. Come to think of it, I wish I was there too. Just wait until I get my hands on Genius;-) So glad I read your article. PS I will write every day, I will write every day, I will write every day - maybe if I say it three times it will come true.
Just once I'd like to be the hussie on the beach with the deliciously muscled cabana boy! Anyway, this was a great article Camille because we can all RELATE! Your teacher was very wise!
Camille, Excellent!You are right-work through it all. That’s the key isn’t it? The hardest discipline seems to be let the ‘natural evolution’ of an idea run its natural course. If you cling to the original spark, and resists letting it be the step for something else, then you don’t have a chance. Your teacher understood that nobody sets out to make a masterpiece, they just push words and ideas around until suddenly you have something that has a life of its own. It’s like visual design, don’t fall in love w/ your sketches, they are just the tools to an end. But it is August, who can create anything in August!!bingTrue. But then...it's no surprise. August being named as it is...(those pesky dictators!)
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