The Muse

I love my job when creative ideas spark. Ten minutes feeling inspired is worth more than two-weeks of blah. That's the secret, I believe. Lines drawn as "mere work" are stilted or lame, while a burst of creative mojo can make them go crazy! That's when the ink flows in the most surprising ways. These are the moments when I get really happy.

Yet, it's the less inspired moments that make this profession so tortuous. One can sit faithfully working; trying to catch some moment of brilliance, and unless the Muse is willing to flirt, it's a waste of time. Those can be dark moments.

I once heard that being a professional artist, means "doing your best work, even when you don't feel like it." Bah. I disagree. That's for robots, not artists. I think being a professional artist, means knowing how your cycles of mojo work, and learning to harvest them fruitfully.

Funny thing - when I go into the darker moods, and various emotions kick in for the lack of recent inspiration - that's when the Muse seems to take notice. Out of the darkness, some blessed sense of purpose will emerge. This strange and tortuous cycle of mood seems to be integral to those moments of ecstatic creativity. Oh fickle muse!