Potpourri Vol. 1

Muses

Just who are the muses who spike our creativity?

For some, such as Hemmingway, it may well have been a good, stiff drink. For some, it is the adrenaline rush of being in danger, or in some way threatened, possibly also Hemmingway. For others, travel, or conversation, or, perhaps, even a dream.

A muse is not commanded by the creater, in this case called a writer. A muse appears, or not, according to its own rules, its own whims. We sometimes beg for help and it is absent over long periods of time. At other times we wish our muses would let us be, let us rest as we transition from one work completed to the start of another.

Want to know what I think? Well, let me tell you anyway. Our muses are within us; they are us; they are the child, the hurt adult, the lonely human being who speaks when he must, and who is silent when satisfied. To keep those muses talking to us, unfortunately, they must be unhappy; thus, we must, at some level, be unhappy.

Such is the creative process.

Archie R. Whitehill
Mercenary Writer
Have Words Will Write