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A muse is defined as a person or personified force that is the source of inspiration for a creative artist. And some say that every artist should have a muse. Am I an artist? I think so. I don’t paint or draw but I do write. I write here, scripts and THAT book. I also have a thing for photography. Yes, before Instagram even. And over the past few years I’ve come to realize that I have personally had a muse or two…or ten as sources of inspiration.
In high school I was all about journalism and creative writing. I received a scholarship that gave me a free ride into a two-month international arts program the summer before my senior year where I was a writer, head editor of the program’s newspaper and a photographer. I guess it was there I met my first muse. A cute girl from Poland also there on a scholarship who let me shoot her with an old 35mm camera on black & white film that I learned to develop myself in a dark room. She was beautiful and the camera liked her. I liked her. My first muse. Jump ahead later in my life and I found myself writing my first romantic comedy script. The movie was inspired by my dating life and this script would actually become a prequel of sorts for T-blawg. Anyway, two of the main female characters were totally based on two women I used to work with. One I was head over heels for and the other I was hooking up with. A lot. Both of them gave me the inspiration to turn my different relationships with each into movie subplots, characters and dialogue. They were the first real life women turned into script characters but certainly were not the last. But they were both my muses I guess. In college, I took several art history classes and spent a lot of time in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts but it wasn’t until I hit my 30s that I finally became a member of the museum and started to visit other museums around the world. Some with women. Some were muses. Some either inspired me enough or hurt me enough to wander the museums often. The Louvre & Musee d’Orsay in Paris I visited with a young, interesting muse. The Museu Picasso I visited with a local woman I met in Barcelona who became both my personal tour guide and a future muse. When I visited both the Tate Modern in London and the Vatican Museums in Rome, I was inspired by some of the artists who took to canvas inspired by their own muses. In the past few years I have come here to write about a woman I loved who gave me both great and painful words to write. There was another girl who I had a strong connection with but being at different points in our lives we could never get past ourselves. But she inspired me enough to bring her home to my childhood neighborhood to show her my old awe-inspiring view of the city of Boston late at night across the harbor while she was going through some personal issues. She was a muse for sure. She was special. And recently, there was a woman who I dated on and off for about a year and a half and I brought her all around the MFA and showed her some of my favorite works of art in between a lot of wine and a lot of good conversation. Four of my favorite things right there. She was a muse whose relationship ended on a very wrong note. But she inspired me to get back into photography. Even if it is just from my iPhone to post on Instagram for now. See? Even a tough Boston guy can find his artsy side and appreciate the women who have played the role of the muse in his life.
Did I ever think I would write something like this here on T-blawg? No. But like I said up top, I do think of myself as an artist. I create. Whether from scratch or from inspiration from the people and things in my life or from that deep, deep cavern of feelings that I even I have, I create. A muse is important to the artist. A woman is important to a man. Sometimes there are a few women that have played important roles in his life but it is up to him to find a way to turn that all into art. So, try to find a muse. Then try to create something. Anything.
Until next time. Always take it there.
T
T-blawg 