That Would Be Me (dot net)

O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
 - William Shakespeare, Henry V, Prologue

If I have a muse, she seems to have fallen asleep. I wish her good dreams. That she can convey to me once she wakes up and has her first cup of strong coffee. I’ve had my coffee and my pen is poised for the flow of genius.

What interests me about the creative process as much as those times when you can’t stop creating are the times when you don’t seem to get much done. I used to get nuts when I was in that seemingly stagnant place until I realized that it was a necessary part of the process, that I’m always creating and in those times it’s just more subtle. A gestation, perhaps. There are several stories and a couple of novels coalescing in there. Am I mixing my metaphors? Ah, well. As Walt Whitman said:
“Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)”

I am also, I fear, repeating myself. Old Walt has conveyed my feelings on a number of diverse occasions. His passage seems more elegant, somehow, than Emerson’s oft quoted dictum about a foolish consistency being the hobgoblin of little minds. It’s also much more apt to the subject at hand.

Yes, now I am simply rambling, using other poets words to appear knowledgeable and creative, and doing it without any orderly theme or plan. Of course, A. A. Milne said, “One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” And as soon as my muse awakens, I’ll convey some of those discoveries to you.