ze poll, ze poll ~ !

[lookingland]

i know, i know, i am really behind on responding to my flist. i will try to catch up later this afternoon after some NaNo time.

in the meantime, i thought i would throw this out to all the arty-types on my flist:

[Poll #861368]

feel free to elaborate in a post.

: D

Comments

[bachsoprano.livejournal.com]

In my mind, "muse" equals "subconscious" so, yeah, we're good friends - when I have the sense to get out of the way and let ye ole subconscious do its thing....

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

that's an interesting take ~ !

do you think of your subconscious as distinctly divorced in some fashion from your ego (in an ego/id sort of way?)

i guess i have a hard time conceptualizing part of my brain as completely "other"? dunno if i am saying that right.

in these sorts of things, i fear i lack imagination ~ hahahahaha

: D

[sparowe]

Ammending my answer (no) to add that unless you count Divine Inspiration as a muse. Which I don't for most of my work, but every now and then I get a prompting that I'm sure is more Holy Spirit than me. Writing like that just feels different. :D

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i was going to include that as one of the options and then i thought it was kind of squirrely to call God a "muse" ~ or at least i felt squirrelly about it ~ hahahahaha.

it may well be, i don't have a very good working definition of "muse" to begin with.

: D

[lanyn.livejournal.com]

My muse(s) and my subconscious are two separate things for me. The subconscious is an internal thing, thoughts/inspiration/ideas always comes out of nowhere, and the subconscious does most of the work when I write, but it's all within my own head. I rank my characters who talk back and direct the action of stories as the voice of my subconscious. Now the muses, particularly Muse #2 is a different kettle of fish. He's external, visits very infrequently and on his own schedule, not when I'd really like some inspiration, comes with great ideas but then disappears and makes me do all the work figuring out how to implement them (where the subconscious comes in again) and cuts me no slack when I start to flounder. We loves and hates him, precious, but he's the best damned thing that ever happened to my writing.

And yes, I know all that sounds insane, but you asked! :-D

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

hahahahaha ~ !

i find it fascinating ~ and since you have cast yourself in the role of golem, i wonder if you have a picture in your head of what this muse looks like. and how did you know his gender?

: D

[geckobird.livejournal.com]

My muse. No, muse probably isn't the best term for what goes on in my imagination. Muses, I suppose? Not sure how to describe it. An image appears in my mind and the characters in that image proceed to explain their story. If I don't write it down, well, the characters keep jumping into my thoughts randomly with more ideas for their story and often visit my dreams as well. Then I know this story has to be written, and so I do my best to write it.

Hopefully, that doesn't make me sound crazy. XD For me, my muses are my characters. They strike at random with inspiration and demands that their stories be recorded. Though sometimes as I stand outside in nature the inspiration is of a different angle, almost as if an angel is whispering in my ear what it is I should be doing.

Angels, characters... my muse seems to be a multitude of people. Though at the moment just Lyn and Shari from my Two Students and a Cat story are clamoring for my attention. They've been interrupting my thoughts all morning at work, so I think I should sit down and write some of their scenes today, else they never quiet. XD

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

that's an inneresting take on it ~ !

i hadn't considered how characters talking in your head might be considered muses. and i certainly have a lot of characters talking in my head a lot (even if they never actually talk to me personally).

i have a friend named Shari Lyn ~ and she has two cats. and she isn't a student.

but something about that struck me as funny anyway.

: D

[lanyn.livejournal.com]

Oh sure, I know who he is. Like all my muses, he's a real person long deceased. However Muse #2 is the first one I've ever had ghost-like physical experiences with. Not saying I believe in that stuff, but I have no other way of explaining the weird things that happens when he visits.

A muse to me is someone/thing that looks after your creative well-being. That's exactly what he does, even if he's a bastard about it sometimes, and I say that affectionately.

[lanyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, and he came to me, I didn't pick him. LOL!!

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

hahahahahaha ~ it's nice to have a spiritual bop-bag, to be sure!

i like the idea of the dead coming back to guide the living, being a patron or care-giver to a person's creative well-being. that's a very comforting idea.

: D

[geckobird.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! I really hadn't considered muses to be anything else until I wandered into lookingland. It's a fascinating subject for it describes in a way, one's inspiration process... Also I notice that most of the time the characters don't really talk to me personally; they just act out their scene again... and again... until I finally get the point and write it down. It's in my dreams that they accost me. I wonder, how many people receive inspiration for their stories from dreams? I know I have and wondered if perhaps the Holy Spirit gave me a divine revelation in my sleep.

Can one consider inspiration for a story a divine revelation? I mean, we are writing fiction here. I like to think it is, for hopefully, our stories will be read and will touch the hearts of others?

I am curious though as to your thoughts on muses.

A friend named Shari Lyn? Aw, that gave me the giggles!! Funny how that coincided. XD And kitties are simply adorable. The cat in my story is a black one named Rumisel, though his nickname is just Rumi. ^_^

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

rumi is a great name for a cat ~ !

i don't know if i have any sort of organized thoughts about muses. i think the creative impulse in us is a connection to God (who is the creator of all things). not so much the part of us that wants to "be" God, but the part of us that wants to connect to God through the act of creation.

so, when we consider God's indwelling, i s'pose it's an easy leap to say we are divinely inspired!

i never dream about my characters (well i shouldn't say never. i had one dream a long long time ago about two characters of mine, but it's the only time that ever happened). i think i would freak out if i encountered my characters in a dream ~ hahahahaha!

: D

[bachsoprano.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....

I don't know. In my teaching, I saw a lot of people where that seemed to be the case - where all there was was ego and anytime a little bit of the "inner child" or whatever one calls it was allowed out, magic happened.

But, one of the things I've noticed is that when I stop the conscious effort of thinking, the words seem to take care of themselves. Of course, there's thinking on some level, but I think it's the concerted effort of it, as opposed to the holistic process, that causes trouble for me.

So, maybe it's not a matter of having separate parts or an "other" but a sense of one aspect of brain function being more dominant? And it's a matter of balance?

Gah, I don't know if that makes any sense at all...

I'm a lefty. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it :)

[bachsoprano.livejournal.com]

Really?

Wow - I'm envious (really!).

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

hahahahaha ~ this stuff really fascinates me on a lot of levels. i'm neither right-brained nor left-brained (if you listen to that sort of evaluative stuff) ~ i'm middle-brained. which makes me a bit of a loser on both ends. i'm not sure if i get the best of both worlds. i'm frivolous and obsessive-compulsive. i can't do math, but i work better in analytical formats. i'm a loafer, but i cling to set routines like a castaway on a raft.

so when people talk about muses and things of that ilk, i am mostly bewildered.

which, i guess is my story ~ or at least the one that's sticking to me!

: D

[annabellissima.livejournal.com]

Nah... I don't go in for the actual existence of Muse... (I always think of the gods/mythology and whatnot, or I think of New Agey spirit guides and whatnot).

I do, however, believe in Grace. I know it prolly sounds hokey, but I usually attribute to God's grace and gifts anything that my talent produces (altho my hard-work in honing that gift certainly qualifies as cooperation with God's grace) sooo... yah :)

Hope that makes sense.

Baroque, Baroque, Baroque!

[annabellissima.livejournal.com]

YAY!

I, too, am a Bach Soprano :D

I will, in fact, be resurrecting his "Quia Respexit" as one of the songs I will sing this term.

[pithhelmet.livejournal.com]

My answer was "No, i do all my own work without any goblin/faerie/ghost/spirit world dust," but if one considers that I didn't even attempt NaNoWriMo this year, I could probably use a muse or a goblin or something.

Re: Baroque, Baroque, Baroque!

[bachsoprano.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love Bach's Magnificat! It's one of my favorite things to sing - I started out with the "Quia Respexit" and "Et exsultavit", then moved on down to "Esurientes" when my voice changed (I'm actually a mezzo/alto these days.....when I sing...)

Where are you studying at?

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

somehow i see a kobold working better with you ~

~ don't fret NaNo. i've grown convinced (in a jaded sort of way) that it's a concept that maxes out its potential after a while. kinda like how the game cooties is a lot of fun when you're a kid, but as you get older you realize how pointless it is. hahahahahaha ~

: D

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

that makes perfect sense ~ and is a clearer expression of what i was trying to say above to geckobird.

and i don't think it's hokey at all ~ !

: D

Come on guys!

[babalueye.livejournal.com]

I mean....didnt anyone SEE Xanadu? Yeesh....

Very quickly...

[annabellissima.livejournal.com]

Portland State University in Portland, Oregon (not Portland, Maine).

I'm still trying to track down an oboe player....

[annabellissima.livejournal.com]

I was hoping you could relate :D

Re: Very quickly...

[bachsoprano.livejournal.com]

I used a flautist when I did it because I couldn't find an oboe player, and it sounded really nice (not as nice as the oboe would have though...), so maybe that's an option to explore? Violin would probably work too...