There's an imaginary being or force living within you, challenging you to keep working, inspiring you with ideas, pushing you to be the best version of yourself.
She’s your Muse.
She’s your personal companion throughout your life. This goddess tests you and me around the clock. She wants to see how committed we are to our creative journey, whatever that happens to be. And our Muse wants to make sure we've got skin in the game, and we’re in it for the long haul.
She knows when we’re lazy, tired, frustrated and overwhelmed. Our Muse also knows when we show up, when we’re on top of our game, and when we push the envelope.
She doesn’t want to see us lose our spark, our child-like wonder and curiosity, our willingness to discover new things.
No. The Muse doesn’t want us to be good at the 90-yard dash. She wants to see that extra: that extra sales call, that extra rep in the gym, that extra kindness to someone suffering, that extra connection with a student or child.
If you listen, truly listen, you can hear her say, “Keep working.”
The car salesman gets launched from his dealership, the actress gets cut by her theater group… both must go home and immediately begin training for their next job, even when it seems hopeless.
The salesman must start working on developing better negotiation skills, personality, rapport - and he needs to learn more effective ways of closing the sale. This is the only way he can keep his selling skills sharp and in demand.
The theater actress must sign up for class at once, continue her voice and communication skills, memorization, and teamwork.
Our Muse is always watching. Even if we don’t lose our job. She's watching and cheering us on. And she's always expecting a little more.
For you and me, it could be something else. Maybe it’s writing a book, or starting a business, or learning a new craft. Maybe we need to make better art. Or maybe it's finding our calm, our joy. The choice is ours, but our Muse wants us to stick with it. Why? Because she wants us to grow. She wants us to contribute.
Through it all, we need to listen to her. Her only rule: "Keep working.”
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