Where does the Muse come from?

 

One of the things that never ceases to fascinate me is instantaneous inspiration. I don't mean the kind of inspiration one works at through, for example, the exercises that can be used to beat writers' block. I  mean that kind of inspiration that suddenly appears, completely unsought, from nowhere.

If you write or paint or compose, you probably know the kind of thing I mean. It's a normal day and you're doing the same kind of things that you'd normally do, when suddenly Bang! you see something differently, a word/sound/picture sticks in your mind, you're struck by a surprising similarity between two seemingly very different things... It doesn't happen to me as often as I'd like, but over the years it's sparked poetry, short stories and scenes for my would-be novel.

Today, for me, it was a dandelion clock. We've been passing them daily over the past few weeks on my son's walk to school. Most of the time I know they're there but don't really take it in, like most of the walk, to be honest. My sons will often even pick them up and blow them, without me paying much attention. Then suddenly something in me today focussed in on them. They were the perfect metaphor for a poem on a subject I didn't even realise I was going to write about! Why that should strike me at all, let alone there and then I've no idea. Of course, it's also too early to say whether or not they will visibly remain in the final draft. But I find the creative process, and in particular such stimuli, absolutely amazing.  So what inspires you? And where do you think it comes from?

Sarah James  - poet and short story writer

 

Comments

[Kevin Chandler]

I suppose the muse is really just the power of the unconscious, our own, and the collective. Then again, it could just be magic.

Kevin

[Sarah James]

It certainly feels like magic. :-)