It’s 3:14 AM, yes that’s right 3:14 AM in one of the wee-est hours. My elusive muse IS nowhere to be found. I suppose this is neither natural nor unnatural, for this time of the morning. I once Googled, what does it mean when you consistently wake up at 3 AM or thereabouts in the morning. The answer was somewhat settling, but in many ways it became unsettling. You see, there seems to be some hidden spiritual meanings, waking up at 2 AM, 3 AM and 4 AM. When I explored the various meanings of waking up at 3 AM some of these soothsayers suggested that individuals that open their eyes with their mind filled with energy, seem to lean towards perfectionism. In my particular case I don’t prescribe to the, “Eyes Wide Shut,” psychological drama. But the perfectionism I leave up to the capricious guidance I often receive from my own personal muse. Revealing the truth here, there seems to be multiple muses and they reflect a whole host of personalities, from coquettishness, all the way to hammer driven authoritarianism. I don’t like the latter much.
Nighttime awakenings are a common phenomenon. So say psychologists and sleep experts. But wait: what about people that are mysteriously awakened with a gush of creative energy? Just how common is it, something that portends like an anticipatory omen? I profess to have firsthand knowledge of the lost muse. The she; or he, and the he; for a she— muse masculine, muse feminine: they seem to be equal opportunists when it comes to their nightly visits, I can usually tell which one it is. One of my muses is quite authoritative and a bit pushy. The other possesses a certain amount of charm and cunning and has an interesting way of motivating me with very subtle suggestions, sometimes they’re so faint it causes me to have to dig deeper in my creative thinking, then I generally dare venture on.
When you find yourself totally awakened at some sainted hour; beyond midnight: listen for, or at least try to connect to the lost muse. I refer to this particular muse as lost, because they seem to be haunting around; lost in a nightly rarefied ether. I’ve come to believe that their course is capricious. Lady luck has no posture here. Skittish and sometimes temperamental and often in my case arbitrarily volatile. During good times they light up an enchanted path to a creative thought that must be either committed to memory, or immediately written down, before they evaporate and steal away in the blackness of the darkest hours of the night, when most mortals are deep in slumber or at least they should be deep, deep, deep in REM like sleep.
What should you make of all this? The lost and found muses of the night. The ones, the ever present ones, that make nightly visits. More often than not, they only sprinkle their creative dust in our dreams, invariably lost by first daylight, and are fragmentary; remembered only in the most vaguest of recollections. I believe the muses that make themselves known at three in the morning, have much to impart to the awakened mind. They can be annoyingly persistent. I even think they tap on your shoulder, I’ve discovered others that will give you a good shake, drawing you on, force-feeding you creative ideas that come fast, and on many accounts goaded indicatives, forcing you to take action immediately. Invariably in the form of turning on a light and rapidly making notes so you won’t forget. Woe is the man or woman that wakes up in the morning and can no longer remember the brilliance of those creative ideas that quickly become lost in the mornings grogginess. We share with ourselves, and we share with others, “I had the most brilliant idea last night, in fact it was in the middle of the night, but I will be damned if I can remember it.” “All I can attest to, is the fact that, if I could only remember— only remember.” “I know it was brilliant; try as I must just won’t resurface.” Disappointing.
As a reminder to all of us that have experienced this form of bewilderment that was a muse; encouraging you to take action, take notes, talk it into your phone, and if you have the courage get out of bed and write it down. If not, you will only have the memory, and refer to it as the lost muse.
Did you ever think that a muse could have so much control over your creative outcomes? We all have flash memories they can occur during any second on any given day. I happen to believe they are divinely inspired gifts. Someone or something has to be the catalyst; the delivery person who stops off in our brains to shed light on new ideas, designed to protect us, and to motivate us to become all that God wants us to be. Are there bad muses? Unfortunately I’m pretty sure they exist, a good idea at first bloom, may seem to be the answer we’ve been looking for, but upon further examination, one can often discover it’s a trap pulling us into a chasm filled with deceit. Muses are generally or should I say almost always associated with some form of creativity. Yes, they can be elusive, and yes, they come and go. Some like to make nightly visits, some specialize in making these visits at 3 AM in the morning. I profess that my 3 AM muse has been pretty good to me, she is kind enough to not awaken me every single night, and once I take dictation from this charming muse, I invariably fall back into a deep slumber, with a relaxed mind knowing that the notes I committed to paper will be there for me, at my traditional awakening hour. The best part of the day is when I read these notes and realize that these were nighttime gifts. Creative suggestions that have never failed me. They bring forth insight and new opportunities for explorations into my personal uncharted waters and landscapes of ideas that never fail to push me to a higher level of creativity.
I am almost certain you have muses in your life, they may be your most cherished friends that understand you, that support you, that believe in you, and most importantly always have something positive to say when you share with them your creative thoughts. The other muses we all share and equally rely upon, are those mysterious visitors that come and go, invariably in unpredictable ways and times. These are the muses that seem to know what’s best. They may be angels sent to us from the highest source, but however you like to credential them; we all have the opportunity to engage and protect these helpful muses. In Greek mythology there are nine of them.
All of the ancient writers appeal to the muses at the beginning of their work. Pick your favorite muse, the one that is most appropriate for supporting your creative endeavors. It never hurts to read a little mythology, and it may shed some light on some of these nightly visitors that seem to have celestial origins and favor making their visits in the early morning hours. I for one, always manage to find the lost muse. I go to bed nightly in a state of blessedness, confident that on any given night, on or near 3 AM, who should appear… my shepherd, my loyal friend, my angel, my muse. The ever present nighttime provider of creative inspirations for me to explore.
I would love to know about your creative muses and when and how they appear to you.
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