“How Do I Connect with My Creative Muse?”

Karin’s creative muse showed up as a bee

How to Connect with the Creative Muse

In many of my private consultations and classes, including “Writing in the Zone” and “Bring Your Book to Life(R),” I lead participants through a guided visualization to “Meet Your Creative Muse.”

What’s a Muse and Why Connect?

Think of your Muse as the creative aspect of yourself, that inner source of creativity that just “knows things.” Your Creative Muse knows from deep inside your heart and soul, beyond all the constraints and perceived limitations of the ego.

I love this work with the inner Muse. I especially enjoy it for its sometimes playful, sometimes surprising, always wise counsel.

After the guided visualization, people often share the clarity, insights and shifts that come from connecting with their Muse.

Symbol

The Creative Muse often gives us answers symbolically, including how it shows up (as animal, object or person, for example). Sometimes there are layers of meaning we can only appreciate when we sit quietly with the images awhile–or journal about them.

It was like that for Karin, who wrote,

Yes, I have a muse now (first one).  It is a little yellow bumble bee.  I was very annoyed at first to find a little yellow bee….not what I wanted or expected….but I remembered to suspend judgement and once I did everything shifted.  Now I can see that my muse is totally perfect for me.  Buzzing with creativity, stinging intention, adding sweetness to the world, flying solo but being deeply connected to community (so me)….”

Your Creative Muse doesn’t always show up the way you might expect or even want, but if you allow the wisdom of the Muse to rise up from within, you will probably soon enjoy the symbolism.

I know I felt disappointed when my Muse showed up as just light. I mean, how amorphous can you get? Couldn’t she show up as a fairy or angel or someone specific. But then I thought, “Light? That’s pretty cool.” And suddenly, it was.

My Muse has since shown up as a wise woman whose clothes sometimes whirl into mesmerizing patterns that take me to other dimensions—and she makes a mean bowl of alphabet soup—perfect for a writer, yes?

I Have a Muse. Now, What?

Karin brought up the other big questions that come from working with the Muse—in a nutshell: “Now What?”

“What do I do now that I have a muse?”

“How do I connect with my creative muse?”

“Should I connect just when I’m stuck?”

“What does my muse want me to know?”

“Are there any rituals for connecting?”

Firstly, I suggest your connect with your Muse every single time your write. It can be as simple as closing your eyes and taking a deep breath, or putting on your special writing sweater/jacket/hat/shoes/scarf/goggles.

Creating and Writing in the Zone: The TENER Method for Creative Flow

In a few week’s I’ll be sharing the most recent incarnation of my process for creating in a state of flow. Two of my clients have dubbed this “The TENER Method” for creative flow. It looks like that name is sticking.

Stay tuned for the exact elements you can use to create your own creativity ritual or writing ritual to consistently access  a state of flow for all your creative endeavors.

You’ll learn to connect with your muse on demand and much more.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your experiences.

• How do you connect with your Creative Muse?
• How does your Muse show up for you?
• What insights has your writing Muse provided about your writing, your book or other creative endeavors?
• What challenges have you had with connecting with your writing Muse?