Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Capturing the Muse

When does creative inspiration strike you?


Long ago, Mozart revealed that he wrote his best compositions in his sleep, fully in his sleep. He called this skill "Capturing the Muse." 




I tell you this because I too developed this odd ability as a young child. Then worried about my weekly spelling tests, I'd place a pencil and pad next to my bed, go to sleep and when I woke in the morning, I'd have scrawled out on the pad all of the words that would be asked on the oral exam ... in order ... spelled correctly (if I could read my penmanship) ... and I had no recollection of having written these words out. I aced every spelling test.



Years later, I capitalized on this talent and even earned a living off of it. I wrote corporate literature (annual reports) fully in my sleep. In one two-year period, I wrote pages and pages of text while fully out cold -- waking the next morning to find my Muse had written out paragraphs of copy.  All I had to do was type it up to submit; it required very little editing.

I was lucky!  About 10 years ago, I lost the talent ... lost my Muse ... when I started taking the sleeping pill, Ambien. I took it every night, not because I was losing sleep writing in it, but because my DH John was a snorer. I couldn't get and stay asleep because of it -- and the Muse disappeared as a result. I stayed on Ambien even after John had a sleep study and started sleeping quietly and peacefully with the help of a CPAP machine.

In January 2010, I weaned myself from my daily dose of Ambien (they say it's non-addictive, but it is habit-forming). I started sleeping normally, but I no longer dreamt ...and I no longer wrote in my sleep. Alas. Then, I was working for a non-pressure job in sales/marketing for a manufacturing company, and didn't feel the pressure of a creative block.


This poster has hung on my office
wall since I can remember. It is
titled "Right Brain Creativity."
That has changed, now that I've been laid off of my corporate job. The Muse is back! And I can't sleep!! I am itching with creative impulses ... I sleep in 3 or 4 hour patches. I now dream in full color, in stories already written ... in projects ready to create. I sleepwalk to my computer, waking to read the magical blogs I follow. Stimulated by ideas there, I rush to my PaperJungle (upstairs, craft room) and cut, paste, create. Yes, think of weird ideas like using the pasta machine to cut paper!

My DH John thinks I've flipped my lid ... and perhaps he's right. I've flipped it wide open and it is spilling out all over the PaperJungle.

Inspired.Creative.Thought.

So enough about me ... how does your process work?
Scroll down here, where I'm going to post a project I found on an amaaaaazing blog. That is, if I have time enough to stay here to post before I dash upstairs ...........

(Credits: THANK YOU to Photobucket for every image in this post with the exception of the poster that hangs in my office.)

4 comments:

Pat N. said...

Wow, that's pretty amazing. What a unique gift you have. I wish ideas would come to me that easily. I'm just about the opposite and need to be inspired to create, but once I know what I want, I will bring it to completion. Thanks for sharing, that was very interesting.--Pat N.

Star said...

So glad i know you!

abusybee - DoubleClick Connections said...

So it has a name! I always write in my sleep I usually can't read it, but I remember all my thoughts and dreams in the morning! That is how I produce so many projects so fast, they are already completely planned out during the night so when I craft it just melts together!

Lizzie Laine said...

Wow, that is so cool!

Congrats on your win over at scrapguy!