Creative Solutions & Inspirations from the Modern Day Muses

Muse Song, the Muse of Pampering, Encouragement and Good Company

By Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.

PLUS: Meet the Muse Muse Song

“The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt

Many creative people seem to have a quality of self indulgence, self absorption, and self preoccupation. Does this contribute to their ability to BE creative? It could in that the creative juices require a lot of inward examination as well as a healthy if not vigorously substantial belief and support of one’s self. The creative process requires at times building a world of one’s own and nurturing that world with time, protection from criticism, and generous supplies of self attention, musings and idea evolution.

In the process of teaching people how to break through creative blocks, I have observed that many of us have a problem putting ourselves first, pampering ourselves, finding an hour for an outing related to our creative life rather than to the roles and responsibilities of our rushed, everyday world. I have also witnessed the creative energy and resources an individual experiences when given permission to nurture her or himself in the name of creative expansion. I was clued into this phenomenon by the modern day Muse from my book called Muse Song.

“The energy that Muse Song emits is about care and nurturing. This energy has been considered important enough to be “Muse-worthy” because the art of self-nourishment has a profound effect on mortals’ creative productivity. Pampering has not gotten the attention and publicity it deserves since the days of Cleopatra. Both underrated and underused, the act of nurturing ourselves for the intention of self-expression is one of the secrets to an enchanting surge of creative brilliance. The explanation is mysterious — it has something to do with the fact that, if we generously take care of ourselves, we will be more effortlessly inclined to want to express and share ourselves with others. If you are always verbally haranguing yourself, why would you want to share that beat up side of you with anyone? It seems that the harangued side is in control of our creativity and can shut when it is not receiving compassionate care.”

“Creativity is so delicate a flower
that praise tends to make it bloom
while discouragement
often nips it at the bud.
Creativity is not something
we can turn on and off like a faucet.
It is an experience and expression
in our lives that must be nurtured.
This nurturing process means
that creativity is at once a skill,
an art, and a life-style.”
— Alex Osborn

Muse Song also encourages us to hang around those mortals who believe in our creativity and set boundaries or restraining orders up with those who diminish us in any way. Some people do not even realize their own jealousy around our creativity and may subconsciously try to discourage it. Do a visual of this idea by drawing a circle with yourself in the middle, in another outer circle draw a group of people you believe support you (if that circle is empty, go to classes and groups and FIND people — this circle is important) and outside the circle draw people who are not invited in your sphere of creativity.

Ways to Nurture Yourself — Brought to You by Muse Song:

1. Schedule some time that is exclusively yours to spend doing anything nurturing. If you are not used to this, the simple act of starting to do it will be magically filled with synchronicity and festiveness. Start five minutes at a time if you must.
   
   
2. Buy yourself something small but nurturing. A special washcloth, a special favorite dish or mug, a pen surely anointed by Muses.
   
   
3. Buy one flower and put it in a wine glass.
   
   
4. Glue gun beads and silk flowers on favorite wine glasses or mugs.
   
   
5. Take small gentle steps toward your creative dreams and reward yourself along the way with small rewards.
   
   
6. Get in pajamas early, set your bed up with books, journal, magazines, light a candle, incense, play soothing music.
   
   
7. Send yourself a future scheduled e-card or snail-mail reminding yourself of a compliment someone gave you or make it an encouraging letter from a nurturing part of yourself.
   
   
8. Make a daily credit list five minutes before you go to sleep of things you’re glad that you did, things that worked, and self praise. If this is hard, add it to your weeks 5% at a time.
   
   
9. Make a list of things you find nurturing and start a little at a time to integrate them into your life.

Muse Song solicits unconditional self-kindness as a way to excellence. If you follow her prescriptions, you will find some colossal results — as if magic was seeping out of your desk drawers, or was wafting through your air conditioning vents in gratitude for a self well treated. •

Copyright © Jill Badonsky, 2007. All rights reserved.

About the Author | More by Jill Badonsky
Jill Badonsky, M.Ed. is founder of Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching and is author of The Awe-manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder and The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration. Visit her online at TheMuseisIn.com. Become trained as a certified Kaizen-Muse™ creativity coach and liberate creative souls — including your own.

2/14/07