Living the Life of an Artist

I have been journaling for years. Most of it is mundane or whiny every day stuff, but every so often, there is a shift in my mental status during the writing. It’s almost like I have to get the previous day’s thoughts off my mind before I can access a higher realm. Most days are the same with recording events of the day before. However, once in a while, my mind will jump to another level. It is like that proverbial light bulb going off, that “Aha!” moment.

Today I was writing about the Muse which I find is a fascinating subject. I began to wonder how my thoughts of her have changed, and is it the same Muse for all my artistic talents. Is there a different Muse for writing as compared to another who comes for photography or drawing? For me, there is definitely another presence, like a whispering in my ear, “Yes, you can do this.”

Sometimes when I have questions like this, I will get answers as I continue writing. I find the Muse is a tease. She arrives unannounced and if I don’t give her proper attention, she disappears. Yet, if I try to focus on her and not the art, she might fade in and out. She wants me to concentrate on something artistic, not her.

As I started thinking about what I noticed about her past visits, I had one of those jumps of consciousness.

As I mentioned, I’ve been journaling for years and as a writer, I’ve often wondered about writing memoirs. I could never figure out where to start. That jump of consciousness brought me to thinking about those “Sparks of Enlightenment” that I occasionally experience through my writing. What if I made my memoirs about those? What would it be like for me to go back through my journals and pick those out? Of course, there would be some story with it, too.

Could I do that? I mean, could I do that? Me? What would it be like if someone else read my journals and would they see those sparks? “Sparks of Enlightenment” would tell my story without the boring, mundane, whiny, day to day experiences. But would it be interesting to anyone else? These sparks have given me boosts. They’ve been my “pearls of wisdom.”

The muse fades back in, whispers in my ear, “We are married. I am the only one for you. Do this.” My analytical, have too many other things to do, brain kicks in crying, “I can’t take on another project!” She just smiles and disappears leaving me wondering. Can I? Should I? What about all my other projects that I want to do? I have appointments, errands to run, things to do…