kaberett: a watercolour painting of an oak leaf floating on calm water (leaf-on-water)
kaberett ([personal profile] kaberett) wrote2014-04-24 12:09 am

Req for recs

Apparently this week I am pondering the construction of the idea of "muse" instead of working on my transfer report.

In particular I am wondering about how other people have conceptualised their relationships with real flesh-and-blood human beings they consider muses; presence/absence, the form of inspiration, and so on, and so forth. I think there is an essay trying to happen, but in order to tease out the details I rather suspect I need to expose myself to a wider range of viewpoints.

Suggestions and discussion in comments very much appreciated.

eta "museum" is "a seat or shrine of the Muses"!!!!
quirkytizzy: (Default)

[personal profile] quirkytizzy 2014-04-25 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
I like this. May Sarton, a writer and a poet I love, once said that EVERY poem is a love poem - it's just often the "you" is intangible, or else not directly expressed. But it IS there. Even if it's not a person, it IS something. She also uses the word "love" to mean that incomprehensible, often maddening push-and-pull, the back and forth, the power OF emotion, even if it's not love, but something we are in love WITH. (Such as sorrow, or anger, or the way the tea steams from our cup at breakfast.)

I don't know if I have people muses or character muses. I can't write fiction. I don't have worlds of fantasy or new places in my head. I always write memoir stuff. I guess the closest thing to a person muse I have is other people who write stuff about THEIR lives that makes me want to write about MINE.