Creative Solutions and Inspirations from the Modern Day Muses

Albert, A Muse with an Attitude

By Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.

PLUS: Meet the Muse Albert

Albert is the Modern Day Muse of Innovation and Imagination. His powers range from encouraging us to break the rules to embodying a different persona in order to experience a more creative perspective. These tools can dull writing into irresistible prose, a relationship suffering from routine into one rich with novelty, or an unexciting business plan to one thriving in distinction. When I plan workshops, it is this Muse’s creative concepts I call upon the most because they easily lend themselves to quick applications for creative success.

But of all the modern day Muses, a short article does Albert the least amount of justice. So yes, I’m going to say it: read the book to best understand how Albert can equip you with the kind of tools that will specifically show you how you can look at what everyone else sees and think something different — something vital to all aspects of the creative process. Albert is about associating and connecting, expanding your creative fluency.

Rather than a list of vague concepts, which have no context for you to relate, one specific exercise will give you a good sense of Albert’s powers. Let’s consider the full moon. Close your eyes for just 15 seconds and consider how you would respond if someone asked you to write, paint, or make a musical about the full moon. What you come up with may have wonderful creative merit, however, creatively brilliant people don’t stop with one right answer. They keep going. With Albert’s tools we can look at something we always see like the full moon and consider new perspectives.

Applying attitudes and personality traits:

Imaginative:
the moon punched a hole in the sky

Werewolf:
the moon punched a howl in the sky

Disobedient:
who cares, turn up the radio, dude

Error prone:
the moon is a crescent

Tangential:
the moon is full, I’ve seen several full moons, once i was mooned, i used to watch The Andy Williams Show he sang “Moon River. i’d like to canoe down a river but i don’t have a canoe, my finances aren’t especially good right now but I have a jacket with fringe.

Irritable:
Could Someone PLEASE turn the moon off?

Generous:
I’ll just have a crescent, you take the full moon.

Famous people or characters

Dr. Seussean:
loon on moon?
spoon on moon?
did you put a loon spoon on my moon?
you’re a buffoon.
(well that last line might be more Don Ricklean than Dr. Seussean)

Colbert Report:
Hi America, because you are so important I have made the moon full for you.

Lincolnian:
Full moon and seven years ago.

Genres:
film noir
It was one of those nights, when the moon, the parking lot and my secretary’s figure was full and but any clues about the case at hand left me empty.

Infomercial:
Now you too can have the moon full in your backyard, all month long with a money back guarantee.

Soap Opera:
it was by the full moon that Jessica scorned Ralph’s sister-in-law’s boss’s 3rd cousin’s accountant’s poodle and then found out it was actually her brother

Although this exercise was mostly fun, this same exercise can be applied to thinking creatively in business or art to discover fresh ideas. •

Copyright © Jill Badonsky, 2006. All rights reserved.

About the Author | More by Jill Badonsky
Jill Badonsky, M.Ed. is a nationally recognized workshop leader, artist, performer, humorist, and author of the book, The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence. She teaches creativity lovers to facilitate classes and workshops based on her book and along with UCLA psychologist, Robert Maurer, she trains people to be Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaches. She can be found lurking at www.themuseisin.com.

12/14/06