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Belly-Dancing with Your Inner Muse:

Wonderful Ways to Inspire and Delight Yourself

By Molly J. Anderson-Childers

"Lily Blue" is an original watercolor painting by Molly Anderson-Childers, and was inspired by one of her Inner Muses: Lily Blue, sister to Red Jane and a heroine of her novel, "Stealing Plums."

If you are feeling creatively blocked or stuck in the muck, your Inner Muse may be feeling a little neglected. When nothing sounds like fun and you perpetually feel bored, this is a sure sign your Inner Muse is taking a vacation — or a nap!

Many cultures have celebrated, worshipped, and tried to entice the Muses; Goddesses of Imagination, Inspiration, and The Arts. They are sometimes said to be fickle; unpredictable, certainly; even dangerous. When these inspiration-inducing deities aren’t visiting your studio as often as you’d like, it’s up to you to inspire, surprise, and delight yourself! Before you know it, you’ll have Muses, Inspiration Faeries, and all sorts of other magical visitors tangoing across your writing-desk… and sprinkling pixie-dust everywhere!

One of the best ways to connect with your Inner Muse is adventuring alone in the wide, wild world. A road trip by yourself is a great way to re-charge your creative batteries. A solitary journey allows you to completely focus on your own needs, desires, and whims. Check out a funky café, bookstore, or coffee-shop and soak up the local flavors. Carry a little notebook with you everywhere, and write it all down. Souvenirs like stickers, postcards, matchbooks, concert tickets, and beer coasters can make an interesting travel collage. The sights and sounds of an unfamiliar place are sure to inspire you. Try to find out where the locals are, rather than sticking to safe, touristy places. Did you really drive eight hours to eat dinner at Applebee’s? Check out that great little Italian place up the street instead — you won’t be sorry! The dingiest mom-and-pop diner in the world might serve up delicious burgers or the world’s best biscuits and gravy — but you’ll never know if you spend all your meal-times at the nearest McRestaurant. Stay outside of your comfort zone — avoid chain restaurants and stores if you can. Seek instead the dingy corner bar, the perfect little coffee-shop, the teeny tiny bookstore full of fabulous old tomes.

If you’re staying close to home, try this: go alone to a place you would normally take a date. Go to dinner alone on a Friday night, dressed to kill. Take a book and a journal for company. Order dessert first, and savor each bite. Sip a glass of blood-red wine and forget. Ignore conventions and social rules — read and write madly until they throw you out. Not only will you be the most fascinating woman there, you’ll get a lot of writing done, too.

These departures from normal routines are a vital part of connecting with your Inner Muse. They awaken the slumbering poet inside your heart. She rubs her eyes, makes a cup of tea, and begins to find ideas for new poems everywhere she looks. One of my favorite Muse-dates is a trip to a bookstore — any bookstore, anywhere. Ask your Muse a question. Choose a random book, and look at the first page you open it to… there, you will find her answer. Books about foreign countries, books in different languages, biographies of artists and writers, comic-books, and kids’ books are some of my Muse’s best friends. A compelling photograph might inspire me to create a poem or short story, or improve my skills as a photographer. Reading excerpts from the Diaries of Anais Nin, I recall a strange dream I had last week and I scribble it all down in my own diary. I can spend hours in a good bookstore with my Muse; reading and writing and surfing the shelves.

Another way to invite your Inner Muse out to play is to visit a gallery alone. Take a journal or sketchbook with you in case you become inspired to create something new. Find a piece of artwork that calls out to you in some strange way. Listen carefully... you will hear it speak. Give the sculpture or painting of your choice a voice. Ask it as many questions as you can think of, and write down the whole interview at top speed. Let the artist tell you her deepest secrets. Later, you can make a sketch, cartoon, or collage to reflect your gallery date with your Inner Muse.

I am constantly seeking new ways to delight, excite, and inspire myself, and you can be sure I’ll be sharing my favorite strategies with you on the Creativity Portal. Until then, may you taste the sublime and belly-dance madly with your Inner Muse! •

© 2005 Molly J. Anderson-Childers

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About the Author | More by Molly Anderson-Childers
Molly J. Anderson-Childers is a wildly creative soul living in Durango, CO. She is a writer, artist, and creative arts instructor. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Fort Lewis College with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, and successfully completed their Elementary Teacher Education Program. Her work has appeared in various publications, including The Durango Telegraph, Southwest Colorado Arts Perspective, Images, Voice Be Heard, The Four Corners Business Journal and On the Wings of Poetry. To contact Ms. Childers, please email her at: stealingplums@yahoo.com or send a snail mail to P.O. Box 4281, Durango, CO 81302-4281.

12/25/05