Interviews with The Nine Modern Day Muses

Audacity: Muse of Courage and Uninhibited Uniqueness

By Molly Anderson-Childers & Jill Badonsky

Greetings, fellow mortals and Muse-Worshippers! Today I have a truly fabulous interview to present. As you all know, I’ve been working exclusively with Jill Baldwin Badonsky to bring you interviews with each of her Nine Modern-Day Muses (and a Bodyguard)! This month, I’ll be interviewing Audacity, The Muse of Courage and Uninhibited Uniqueness. Ever felt creatively chicken-hearted? Not so fabulous? Blah and blocked? Then read on, and be inspired!!!

Q: What are some ways for mortals to let a little more audacity into our everyday lives?

A: One of the delights of being mortal is the migration toward authenticity. Authenticity celebrates the expression of our higher selves. Mortals are at various stages of being in touch and manifesting who they truly are — in this space is freedom and expansiveness. The energy it takes to hide who you truly are is released in favor of intuition, courage, and the cultivation of that unique gift each mortal was given. Depending on where you are in your acquisition of authenticity, here are some suggestions:

1. Ask small questions like: What small thing can I do today that is more true to who I am? Who is doing something that calls to my own authenticity, and where's a small place I can begin if I did it too? What do I do that feels like I’m posing as someone else? What lit my eyes when I was a child? Asking these questions heralds progress and an inclination toward moving closer to who you really are.


2. Acting "as if" is powerful in the service of being audaciously real. Act "as if" you are a little more comfortable with yourself, even if it's just yourself you are with. Question whether what you are doing and how you are spending your time is the real you. Read Marianne Williamson's poem from A Return to Love that says such things as: “Who are you NOT to be gorgeous, brilliant and beautiful?” And “playing small does NOT serve the world.”


3. Mind-sculpt audacity. Practice it in your mind with all your senses and give yourself permission from your higher self to begin to act on those feelings, visuals, and other sensations.


4. Have inner messages that ignite audacity: "I'm going to do this and light the way for others to do the same."


5. Simply engage in your creativity. Creativity can effortlessly begin to direct you back to yourself. It's an amazing, spiritual process of self discovery and identity fortification.

Q: Many artists and writers feel fear and insecurity around money and security. For instance, I often fantasize about quitting my job to write and create full-time. What stops me is the fear that I would not be able to make a living, especially in these uncertain economic times, and would soon find myself homeless and destitute and without enough money for food, shelter, and art supplies. I know many creative souls who are in the same boat — I’m not alone in these fears. How can Audacity help me conquer this fear so I can live my creative dream?

A: I would say, “Jump and the net shall appear,” but those who impulsively follow that advice often end up immobilized by anxiety and fall prey to being sucked back to the more secure and less self-honoring pathways in life. Begin now to WEAVE the net that you will be jumping in. There’s not going to be an “all of a sudden” where the Muses summons you forward and show you freedom (in most cases), although there ARE exceptions — especially if you have connections.

Jill Badonsky, the author-girl of The Nine Modern Day Muses, plotted her escape from the corporate world by daydreaming, taking small steps, testing the waters, having a variety of ways to make money to support her creative outlets, and finally staying true to the path NO MATTER WHAT. Be willing to make some sacrifices initially, it can be a trade off but it is SO worth it to be able to live according to who you are. Abundance is defined by the freedom to engage in your passion — acknowledging abundance in THAT form will attract abundance in all of its forms. Joy, trust, and honoring your higher creative purpose are conduits to attracting everything you need. It's a creative law. About 85% of people give up when they go into business for themselves or follow their creative dreams. The other 15% know it is not a straight line to freedom, but one that weaves back and forth, steadied by consistency, flexibility, ingenuity, giving up how you think it has to look, taking breaks, paying attention to subtle paths that result in needed resources, wielding integrity, and building courage. Mortals who do this not only rise to the top, their lives are alive with creative delight, spontaneous generosity, and the unfolding of dimensions they had no idea existed until they started being true to themselves. It is a path filled with fringe benefits. A Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach can help you begin this journey.

What small thing can you do today to begin to forge into freedom? Know that a small thing today is better than a large thing that never gets done because it’s too much so you end up avoiding it or becoming overwhelmed. And that small thing does not need to be perfect. Go girl! Go everyone. Free yourself from the shackles of your discontent and seize the life that is waiting for you — one tiny step at a time. Sometimes it's pension vs. passion. If you talk to the wise elders of our culture, they will encourage you to go for passion. But take it slow.

Q: What are some ways mortals can tap into their intuition more readily, and thus live a life informed by their authentic, unique truth?

A: “If you have been out of touch with your intuition for awhile it will be a very subtle sense, but listen carefully. This is the center from which your wisest counsel comes — your connection to the heart and the guidance from inside of us. Audacity brings to us a knowing that reflects a strong sense of certainty that comes with intuition. When we listen to the wisdom of intuition conveyed to us from our inner resources, we find that listening to ourselves, rather than to others, is the most important way to know and trust the truth of who we are. Likewise, we will know how to share this truth in whatever way we are inspired to do so. Intimately knowing and trusting ourselves is a form of overcoming barriers created by thinking someone else has to approve of us or of our creative work. Our consequent power dwarfs the effect of opinions, criticism or negativity.

“We learn to know ourselves by experience, awareness, and acting according to what we feel is right in the moment and then weighing the consequences of our actions from an objective standpoint. Success in the form we visualize is not guaranteed. Constant success is in fact contraindicated to both the process of creativity and the process of growth as an individual. So much more insight and depth of living arises, so many more ideas are discovered, from the balance of successes and failures. If the decisions from our own wisdom result in success, we feel more confident. If they meet with failure but we remain tenacious, focused and committed to a path true to ourselves, our self-respect grows. Self-respect results in personal freedom and confidence. Steadfastly following our own wisdom in the realm of creativity, to the degree that we can without expert opinions, is a win-win confidence builder." — Excerpt from the Muse Audacity in The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard)

Q: What is your best advice for conquering a ruthless Inner Critic?

A: Be audaciously in favor of the truth of your dreams. Be defiant with your inner critic. He or she is lying when they say, "You’re not good enough." Say “Thanks for sharing, but I’m carving out a life of magnificence and you can’t stop me." Say, “The HELL I can’t!” and keep going in the direction of your intuition. And for God's sake, be aware that it IS an inner critic and those ruthless thoughts are not the truth.

Q: Some days I feel audacious, brave, and pure of heart; others, not so much. How can I feel brave and audacious every day?

A: Give up the idea that you have to be brave and audacious every day. You don't! Honor your cycles as a mortal. Make progress on the days you feel audacious. And nurture yourself and rest when your scared child self needs attention. Write in your journal on your brave days and read it on your not-so-brave days. Make small decisions on the pure of heart days, and practice trust on the ambivalent days. Trust is the decision successfully audacious individuals make. Trust over fear with the intuition and common sense as a compass. Practice trust every day... What would it look like if you acted on just 5% more trust?

Q: What is your best advice for the chicken-hearted, yellow-bellied, and lily-livered among us? How can we mortals leave our fears behind and dare to live our creative dreams?

A: Take small steps. Daydream; visualize yourself moving in the direction of courage. Practice feeling courage in your body and mind even if it’s just for 10-15 seconds at a time. Have role models who inspire you to give yourself mental permission. Reach out for support. Don’t listen to disbelievers — or listen to them, and BE TRUE TO YOURSELF ANYWAY!

“If people can cultivate inner security and develop a commitment to their own talents, in this path they can earn as much money as they need or want. Once involved in this path, they go beyond the goal of money to the goal of authentic self expression.” ~ Marsha Sinetar

Next: Interview with Muse Lull »

© 2010 Molly Anderson-Childers and Jill Badonsky. 3/27/10