Visiting the Muse

"I don't believe the muse visits you. I believe that you visit the muse."

writer Michael Lewis, quoted on Daily Routines

"Inspiration comes, but it has to find you working."

Pablo Picasso

I'm fighting an itch today to go out and spend money that I don't have on silk ribbon, Byzantia textile paints, Vogue and Onion dress patterns, books, and any number of beautiful fabrics. Americans aren't very good at deprivation and I'm no exception -- this economy is testing us, isn't it? I like to think that someday we'll be in upside-down-land, where everyone will be so hungry for art and beautiful things that all the artists will be living like the bankers used to live.

But the truth is that a fancy life is not what most artists need, though we do need space, and freedom, and supplies. And if we're lucky, a spouse or partner to be that buffer between us and the world; they're the ones who go unmentioned in the artist biographies, but they're often there. What we need most of all, though, is discipline and routine. I've been meaning to link to Daily Routines for a while -- it's a blog devoted to "how writers, artists and other interesting people organize their days." 

One big truth emerges from these stories. By building a life of routine and showing up at the same time every day to do your creative work, you fuel your talent and imagination.

The more you read about successful creative lives, the more this seems to be an unequivocal truth. By making our lives drama-free, consistent, predictable, routine -- dull, even -- we make space to create. People who want to look like artists, with crazy lives, substance abuse, and a lot of whim indulgence, don't actually get much done. People who wait for inspiration to strike before they make anything wait a long time. But those who stare down the white page, or the canvas, or the tools, every day, win.

This is the same advice you'll find in The Creative Habit, or on 43folders, or Hugh MacLeod's How To Be Creative. It's the artist's equivalent of "eat less, move more," a maxim that sums up thousands of books in the multi-billion-dollar weight-loss industry. That's it. There is no secret. Maybe the artist's version is, "Stop whining and get to work." You bring your gifts -- your time and attention -- to the muse.

Everybody's routine is different, of course, and that's what makes Daily Routines fun. Everyone has their particular way to get started, the beverage, the music, whatever ritual it is that sets you up to get to work. 

One other thing, at the risk of being curmudgeonly. If you want to be seriously creative, don't talk about "playing"  in your studio, or playing with your fabric. It's your work. For some reason women especially want to use this word a lot, but I think it trivializes what you do. You may disagree, and you won't be the first person to tell me to "lighten up," but hey, I'm a Scorpio -- we don't do anything lightly. 

So instead of going out and buying all those wonderful things, I'm going to keep using what I have, try to cut down on distractions, and just work. 

Comments

[Gilli]

My question is how do you find the time and energy to get creative when the "real" world takes over your life? I'm a mom, wife, grandmother, sister, friend, and a working nurse. It has been months since I've been in the studio. At first it's because there's no time or energy left after a long day to get in there. Then it's just plain hard to get motivated. I think I've lost my mojo. How do you get that back? And then keep it?

[Dijanne]

It is why I call my "studio" my work room- it is the place I do the work- I have been avoiding going in there these last months for various reasons- but last week necessity visited and guess what: I am working, being productive and I can see again and ideas are arriving. There is another book lurking...

[Chris Mundy]

You are reminding me of when I was in college. I was well into my thirties at that point, majoring in fine art. I had many class mates who were somewhere in the 18-20 year old range. They certainly spent more time partying than making art. But man, they looked SO cool. (I wonder if ny of them are still making art?)