The Muse and Me
We were talking last week about “what works and what doesn’t,” i.e. what activities produce (for me) peace of mind at the end of the day. I listed a number that didn’t work—money, attention, family life, etc.
“It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord … but you gotta serve somebody.”
Let’s talk today about what does work.
If you asked me at this time of my life to define my identity—after cycling through many, many over the years—I would say I am a servant of the Muse.
That’s what I do.
That’s how I live my life.
[Remember, this post is Why I Write, Part 6.]
Consider this (incomplete and possibly out-of-order) selection from our newest Nobel laureate.
Bob Dylan
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
The Times They Are a-Changin’
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde
Bringing It All Back Home
Blood on the Tracks
Desire
John Wesley Harding
Street-legal
Nashville Skyline
Slow Train Coming
Hard Rain
Time Out of Mind
Tempest
Shadows in the Night
See the Muse in there? Mr. D might not agree with the terminology I’m employing, but he is definitely serving something, isn’t he? Something is leading him and he is following it.
That’s exactly what I do.
An idea seizes me. Gates of Fire. Bagger Vance. The Lion’s Gate. Where is this idea coming from? The unconscious? The soul? The Jungian “Self?”
My answer: the Muse.
I experience this apparition-of-the-idea as an assignment. I’m being tasked by the Muse with a mission.
You are to travel by sea to Antioch. There you will meet a tall man with one eye who will hand you a talisman ….
My instinctive reaction, always, is to reject the idea. “It’s too hard, nobody’s gonna be interested, I’m not the right person, etc.”
This of course is the voice of Resistance.
In a few days (or weeks or months) I recognize this.
I accept my task.
I accede to my mission.
This is how I live my life. From project to project, year by year. As the Plains Indians followed the herds of buffalo and the seasonal grass, I follow the Muse.
Wherever she tells me to go, I go.
Whatever she asks me to do, I do.
I fear the Muse. She has slapped me around a few times over the years. I’ve been scared straight.
She has also cared for me. She has never failed me, never been untrue to me, never led me in any direction except that which was best for me on the deepest possible level.
She has taken me to places I would never have gone without her. She has shown me parts of the world, and parts of myself, that I would never have even dreamt existed.
But let’s take this notion a little deeper.
What I’m really saying is that I believe that life exists on at least two levels. The lower level is the material plane. That’s where you and I live. The higher level is the home of the soul, the neshama, the Muse.
The higher level is a lot smarter than the lower level.
The higher level understands in a far, far deeper way.
It understands who we are.
It understands why we are here.
It understands the past and the future and our roles within both.
My job, as I understand it, is to make myself open to this higher level.
My job is to keep myself alert and receptive.
My job is to be ready, in the fullest professional sense, when the alarm bell goes off and I have to slide down the pole and jump into the fire engine.
Again, I didn’t choose this way of living.
I didn’t seek it out.
I didn’t even know it existed.
I tried everything and nothing else worked. This was the only thing I’ve found that does the job for me.
In other words, I don’t do what I do for money. I don’t do it for ego or attention or because I think it’s cool. I don’t do it because I have a message to deliver or because I want to influence my brothers and sisters in any way (other than to let them know, from my point of view anyway, that they are not alone in their struggle.)
When I say I’m a servant of the Muse I mean that literally.
The goddess has saved my life and given it meaning or, perhaps more accurately, she has allowed me to participate in the meaning she already embodies, whether I understand it or not.
Everything I do in my life is a form of getting ready for the next assignment.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
A beautiful post – and well worth the wait (I was suffering from Writing Wednesdays withdrawal). Thanks for this Steve!
I was fortunate enough to hit Amazon’s Best Sellers List with First book Savannah Gone, & I’ve been struggling with the follow up because of what else…resistance. Thanks for reminding me to get back in the ring & to keep throwing punches.
I SO appreciate you, your lived-wisdom, and how much you show how to live a creative life, Steve!
Bless you on your way, you help So many of us with your modeling, and your words.
in life, Wendy
>
Reading this, I was reminded of a different tradition – this interaction with Jesus, according to John:
60 On hearing this, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life…
66 From that time on, many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. 67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”
68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”
“The goddess has saved my life and given it meaning or, perhaps more accurately, she has allowed me to participate in the meaning she already embodies, whether I understand it or not.”
Yes. And this is why we write, whether we feel like it or not. And why we write about what we write about, whether we understand it or not. We write because of the muse.
Steve, I really look forward to your ideas and thoughts each week. Thanks. Really.
Would you maybe (one of these days) tell us more about the moment you recognized that your muse existed? If it was a gradual recognition, was there an ‘aha’ moment when you saw her existence with some clarity?
This post is close to my heart. After wrestling with this process (following the muse) for 50 years, I believe there is a missing ‘step’ … maybe not a step, but something going on in the background that you are not writing about.
That thing is ‘You did the work.’ I agree with everything you say. I shake my head and say, “Yeah, he got it.” Then I think of being 30 and reading this 40 years ago.
Would it have helped me? No.
Why? Because the first essential I needed to master was ‘Do the work.’ Everything else springs from that. Even knowing that you serve the muse. Let’s see… I think someone even wrote a book with that title…
I guess if I could go back and give my 30 year old self advice it would be ‘chill out, do the work, and everything else will fall into place.’
Peace,
Tony
My eyes blurred with tears while reading this post Steven. Your words conveyed the untransferable. Thank you.
Great post. Thank you, again.
Life is enchanted, once you realize it. Tap into it. Beautiful piece. So complete! With all its layering, some stated, come just there. Just like the relationship. Great!
Steven, You are one crazy SOB. Yeah.
There’s always something in the box.
Steven, this really hit a note for me.
So this is who I’m serving. I knew there was someone. I’m not religious and I simply couldn’t believe that the goal was achieving material things (OK, so I like to buy a few things, but there’s a limit, right?).
This is the icon I’ve been seeking – my muse!
Thank you.
Once again “stealing” the words: “I tried everything and nothing else worked. This was the only thing I’ve found that does the job for me. In other words, I don’t do what I do for money. I don’t do it for ego or attention or because I think it’s cool. I don’t do it because I have a message to deliver or because I want to influence my brothers and sisters in any way (other than to let them know, from my point of view anyway, that they are not alone in their struggle.)” – I’ve never been on the “goddess”plane or referred to “it all” as being “from the Muse”. I am not a writer. Writing has been “the process” for me. The characters have been named “Little One” and “Big One” – I’ve referred to it all as “Divine Intervention” – and many times have felt and asked when I have written something and read later and even years later; “where in the heck did that come from.”
It took my breath away to read this. So deep, so powerful. The Muse obviously had something to say to all of us, and not to writers only. Thank you.
Dear Steve,
Thanks yet again for reminding me to stay clear n not waste my time with bullshit and to always be aware of the beautiful dance and dancing partner available to us…
I’m crazy about you Steve…not only do I always personally enjoy every word your words are always present n spot on…you literally guide me back to the truth if I waiver from it.
Thank you my brother, big love, Ziyah
Steve, that is a good text!
I am completely startled by this post. I didn’t realize other people experienced the Muse the same way I do. Is this rare? Why is it no one else around me seems to live according to this, to me, crystal clear Way?
I love everything about this article. It speaks to my muse, my soul, my mission. Thank you!!!! Love your words & insights.
[…] if you wonder why you are here and what your role is, look no further than Steven Pressfield who writes: “I believe that life exists on at least two levels. The lower level is the material […]
[…] if you wonder why you are here and what your role is, look no further than Steven Pressfield who writes: “I believe that life exists on at least two levels. The lower level is the material […]
I’m sure you didn’t mean this to be depressing… But it is. Why? Because I don’t enjoy writing, but I do like how I feel when I’ve finished putting some words on paper. It’s the only time my brain kind of lets me off the hook for a day or two.
Not sure what to do about that, but this post makes me think I’m pretty much doomed. 🙁
I would like to play with friends or take a walk, but this is problematic, especially for a student who has a lot of homework, you can order various written works on grademiners for you.