Tuning in to our Inner Muse

 

Ask any person who has ever created anything worthwhile and lasting and they will likely tell you that their most creative contributions came from somewhere else – through them at best, but not of them. As a wordsmith and author myself, I have had those moments from time to time where the universe just seemed to flow through me. All I needed to do was sit down at the keyboard as a conduit and let the ideas flow uninterrupted into reality. Ideas seem to enter your mind with perfect clarity without thinking, and once recorded generally require little if any editing.

Many of the greatest musicians will tell you that their greatest music and lyrics were generally written or tape recorded in a very short amount of time. It can be thought of as a kind of downloading during a heightened state of awareness. Conditions are often ripe when one quiets the mind, such as during meditation, but just as inducive when one finds that sweet spot of creativity and enters “the zone”, extremely focused on the immediacy of whatever we are doing. Everything just magically falls into place and a sort of genius takes over and just flows through us.

While it sounds fantastical, it is more than likely something that all of us have access to if we tune in to our inner muse. Literally thousands of creative artists and scientists have shared their stories of this lofty experience over the centuries. Perhaps the most creative innovator of modern times, Nikola Tesla, said that “the gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power.”

I love what Dan Fogelberg said about the origin of his remarkable love song Longer - “this song was drifting around the universe, saw me, and decided I'd give it a good home.” We need only quiet the mind, be humble, and open wide to the love and generosity of the universe. Trust your inner muse to lead you toward a new creative spark. Again, from Tesla: “My brain is only a receiver. In the Universe is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength, and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists.”