Interviews with The Nine Modern Day Muses

Lull: Muse of Pause, Diversion, and Gratitude

By Molly Anderson-Childers & Jill Badonsky

Greetings, muse-a-holics and creative souls alike. This month we’re gearing up for an amazing interview with Lull, the Muse of Pause, Diversion, and Gratitude. I feel that I can learn a lot from her at this stage in my life. I often feel impatient with my creative dreams — I want everything to happen NOW! Lull can help us develop a little patience, by cultivating an attitude of gratitude for all the wonderful things happening in our lives. Stuck in a dry spell? Blocked? In a creative quagmire? Lull can rescue you from the doldrums of creative repetition and “Same-Old-Same-Old” Syndrome.

Sometimes, when you’re feeling blocked, stuck, or you just can’t see the forest for the trees, it’s valuable to take a step back, pause, and reflect. That’s where Lull comes in — the only Muse who will give you official permission to goof off!

Q: Lull…How did you become a Modern Day Muse?

A: Well the Muses were working incredibly hard to reinvent themselves into these modern versions of the Greek inspiration brokers. They had successfully come up with five Muses when, zap! Muse revamping came to an abrupt halt. They still had some slots left to fill, but they could not think of what would work next. They made all sorts of facial contortions, had a few brain strains, and Bea Silly’s attention span was completely shot. They tried hard to control the process by auditioning various Muses, hiring a Muse from an escort service, and attempting to rehabilitate a Muse with a bad reputation. They were trying too hard — then it dawned on them: “Duh! We need a break!”

As often as it happened, they were still surprised when the juices dried up without warning. So they took a break. One of them went skiing in the French Alps for a while, and one of them lay in the grass and looked at the pale moon in the daytime sky, but most were fine with just being still. They just stopped doing what they were doing to rest, to let go, to listen, and to receive. That’s how they came up with me…Lull.

The lack of directed thought that comes during a creative break creates a chance for ideas to connect on a subconscious level. Breaks result in “eureka” experiences of solutions, plans, or definitive directions. Profound discoveries make regular appearances during a pause. This is the mystery of inspiration, and one of the joys of being a creative mortal.

Q: You suggest that sometimes it’s best to take a break, and refill the creative well. But for an expert procrastinator such as myself, this just gives me an excuse to slack off — and then I miss a deadline! It’s easy to tell myself I’m just taking a break — but in reality, I’m just avoiding what I most need to do. I could see how mortals might get confused. What’s the difference between taking a break and slacking off? How do you know when you’ve stopped being in a lull — and started being lazy?

A: I wish I could answer but I'm on break right now.

Okay, I'm back. It's not so complicated. If mortals get to know their patterns of creativity and are honest with themselves, they pretty much know when they are rationalizing their procrastination behavior versus when they've worked intensely hard, are up against a wall or showing signs of depletion and need to take a break to replenish. Sometimes, however, a needed break does masquerade as procrastination among those who are diligent about being engaged in the process. A true call from me usually does not happen with those who succumb frequently to a habit of avoidance. A creative lull is a part of the creative cycle and if the other parts aren't attended to, the lull won't feel right.

There's a chance, Molly, that you might THINK you are slacking off, when in fact, you are answering my call. In that case…be easier on yourself during lulls. When we honor a lull, it passes quicker and we feel refreshed and a new tide of inspiration slides into shore.

Rationalizations are known to come from the brain and are close cousins to fear, laziness, and addictions to distraction such TV and the Internet. The need for a break is born of the spirit. The feeling between these two origins is dramatically different. But because many mortals have unrealistic expectations of themselves, they may call a lull goofing off instead of the divine break it is.

Individuals in a creative job with deadlines that don't allow for long breaks may need to take short ones: walks, drives, hikes, complete release of a project for an hour or so; exposure to activities, visuals, music, even a breathing meditation that can quickly reboot their idea reserves. Flowing into a magical, energizing and light daydream can help as can a juicy nap.

Q: What are some of your favorite ways to replenish your creative well and make sure it’s full of juicy ideas?

A: Some of my favorite ways include:

• A glorious nap.

• A walk that is alive with attention to patterns, colors, and shapes. This might be accompanied by questions like "What message might I find?" or "What creative call is about to look me up?" without expecting an immediate answer.

• Taking the day off and switching up my routine.

• Listening to music.

• Laying on the ground and looking up through the trees.

• Communing with nature.

• Walking in a bookstore, asking a question and opening a book randomly to find the answer.

• Going to an art gallery looking for a message I pretend is waiting especially for me. Simply asking small questions like: What will fill me with inspiration?

• Listening to original writing such as NPR Selected Shorts or CDs of writers I love.

• Meditation with imaginative journeys to guides who present a plethora of symbols, visions, shapes, messages, detours into grace and acceptance.

• Large empty spaces (literal, metaphorical, or imaginative) where my mind, spirit, and body are free to rest in the space between the worlds.

• A long drive, or bath, or hike.

Q: For those who work on more than one type of project at a time, is it beneficial to follow the flow of inspiration and take a break from, say, painting, in order to focus on poetry? Or is it best to truly take a break from ALL creative activities at times and simply be? And how do you know when to do which?

A: This differs according to the individual. Because the creative process is fickle, one way can work one day, and another the next. Experimentation, intuition, and taking action in a light and curious way can help mortals decipher what works best for them. Not being attached to one way of doing things helps too.

Q: Can you talk about the role of gratitude in a creative life? In our planning for the future, we often take today for granted. What are some simple ways to cultivate gratitude in our daily lives?

A: If during the pauses mortals can fill with that abundance that is already present, their feeling of lack and neediness can disappear. The most profound part of the shift in their thinking is to fill with the wealth of their creativity and realize that being engaged with their creative passions can make them incredibly content. Material wealth will lose some of its driving allure. Then the irony is that both spiritual and material abundance will begin to appear more effortlessly.

Every night mortals can fill with abundance by writing down two reflections of the day: (1) What they're glad they did that day from the tiny details to great deeds, and (2) the things for which they feel gratitude. This simple exercise creates whatever energy there is out there waiting to be accessed. The energy brings more things to be thankful for, and abundance seems to gravitate toward mortals, enabling them to work more effectively toward their creative dreams.

Another powerful gratitude builder is to write an I-Want list and fill it with all the things you already have.

Q: There’s so much emphasis on the end product — the painting, the finished manuscript, the perfect poem. Talk a little bit about slowing down to enjoy the ride, with regards to the creative process.

A: An alternative to taking a break is slowing down. Slowing down allows the senses to drink in the copious gifts of the moment. Multi-tasking might be fun and effective in certain realms, but it also robs us of the possibilities that reside in a moment given undivided attention.

We have gained time and lost out on the sensations, smells, tastes, and sounds that could coalesce for creative output. The sun sets in pinks and golds, tangerines and cadmium blues, and the harried still race by, gobble down their prepackaged processed cheese, and collapse oblivious.

One of the best things mortals can do is to observe all the enjoyment of the process, to season the process with an intention such as lightness, play or mischievousness, and to be totally present for the timeless flow of creativity.

Q: Can you quote a few mortals whom you inspired?

A: Samuel Butler said, "To do great work a man must be very idle as well as very industrious."

Arthur Rubinstein said, "I handle the notes no better than many others, but the pauses — ah! that is where the art resides."

Virginia Woolf said, "Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth comes to the top."

Gertrude Stein said, "It takes a lot of time to be a genius; you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing."

Be kind to yourselves, mortals. Take a break every now and then and fill it with enchantment. •

Next: Interview with Shadow Muse »

© 2010 Molly Anderson-Childers and Jill Badonsky. 5/3/10