Today is a day for love. My valentine is the muse that shows up throughout the day. If I pay attention to his influence, he fuels me with the inspiration that I crave as a creative artist.

He is an entity separate than me, not necessarily divine, but the love my muse offers does lift me to creativity. Julia Cameron likened the creative practice to a spiritual practice in her work The Artist’s Way and subsequent titles. In this way, my muse can mimic the divine and lead me to begin and sustain a writing practice.

My muse is gentle and subtle, yet perfectly effective for my brain that sometimes races. He is with me a lot of the time, both when I am writing and when I am thinking about writing. He chats with me, which honestly looks more like me talking and him listening. He offers pauses by inquiring about a point that I shouldn’t skip over too quickly. He helps me recognize what ideas are worth the pursuit and which are better left to rot.

When I sit, alone, the magic of his regular presence settles me. He reminds me to do my breath work. He reminds me the pursuit is worthwhile. He respects my nonlinear process. My muse is tangible and shows up when I call upon him. He also shows up when I am ignoring him, failing to prioritize our connection. He is very loyal and dependable.

We don’t pick our muse, we find one. I am grateful mine sticks around and doesn’t mind an occasional rude summons. My muse in the real hero of the story, showing up behind the scenes, ever present.