Your love affair with your muse

How’s your love affair with your Muse? That’s right, your Muse. Your creative source. Your inspiration for all the kooky, creative things you do. The voice that whispers, “Hey, why don’t you try encaustic painting? That looks like fun!” Or maybe your voice has a more, well, cranky tone. Maybe your Muse’s voice gets snarky when she sees others creating. Maybe she feels abandoned in the corner, tucked away behind the towering to-do lists. It could be time for a relationship check-in. My boyfriend and I do these periodically. We take a walk and discuss the state of our relationship. These conversations clear out any resentments that have been piling up. They offer a safe forum for checking in with our shared dream. And, these tete-a-tetes invariably bring us closer. Try this with your Muse. Plan a few minutes of quiet time to get connected to your creative source. Use your journal to deepen the connection and listen to what your creative source has to say. Let your pen move on the page and don’t censor anything that comes up. Interview your Muse. Ask the kind of questions that you would ask a really fascinating person that you have always wanted to meet. What motivates you? What do you love? What do you do for fun? Ask what your Muse wants. Find out if there are any gifts, real or energetic, that she needs. Let her explain whatever she needs. What she writes may be a rant; if you haven’t been listening to your creative impulses, she may have some resentment stored up. Make requests of your Muse. You may ask her for help with finishing projects, rather than confetting you with more ideas, more inspiration, more projects. Redesign your alliance. What would a really fabulous year with your Muse look like? What do you want to celebrate with your Muse at the end of the year? Look at what kind of relationship would make you eager to get to the studio or the writing desk. Brainstorm how much time you would spend together, where and when you’d meet, what you’d do when you got together. Complete the check-in with some kind of celebration. Go to a museum or gallery, or a shop devoted to your craft. Take your Muse to tea or happy hour, just the two of you, and giggle together over your plans. Using these prompts is a great start to cultivating a deeper connection to your creative source. But an ongoing dialogue truly feeds you and your Muse. Make sure that you give yourself this very vital relationship. One of the side benefits of doing so is better relationships with the others in your life. Other benefits include feeling more fulfilled, completing projects that have been shelved for too long, and gaining a sense of self-confidence and satisfaction from having a truly dynamic creative life. Sounds good, doesn’t it? So take some time to connect with your Muse and see what she has to offer.

Christmas article 46

46. Travel At Christmas Because Christmas is a time to be with family, loved ones and friends, it is one of the busiest times of the year to travel. People locally, to different regions and to international destinations to share Christmas dinners, exchange gifts and recall fond memories they have of the season. There's also travel for entertainment reasons that's done by tourists within the country or from abroad. And even on Christmas Day, the highways are busy with vehicles as relatives and friends travel between towns and states to spend the day together. The massive and rapid shift away from an agrarian society to one of commerce with the development of cities and suburbs caused family members to move farther and farther away from each other, therefore making it necessary to travel by land, air or rail to be together for holidays such as Christmas and other special occasions. And with some countries being economic powerhouses in the world, movement of peoples got even farther as they migrated to other countries to take advantage of better opportunities to improve their lives. Consequently, air travel has expanded in modern times to take people to international destinations. But travel during Christmas and the holidays is not limited to visiting relatives and friends. Many people travel for entertainment, including families who are interested in seeing interesting sights at Christmas and enjoying world- renowned entertainment that are in faraway places from where they live. Travel to a destination that is far away, within or outside a country, may only be done once by a family and that in itself creates a special memory. Within the United States, it is popular for families and groups of friends to visit New York City to see the general sights of the city and to shop at Christmas. Some of these sights are known throughout the country and are celebrated each Christmas. The annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is an example. The lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, which is located west of Fifth Avenue from 47th Street to 51st Street in New York City, has been an tradition since the time of the Depression. The first tree was placed at the site in 1931 but it wasn't decorated with any Christmas ornaments. In recent years, more than 25,000 Christmas lights and other ornaments have been placed on the tree. Also in New York City, it is very popular for tourists to travel at Christmas to see the spectacular Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall with the signature high-kicking Rockettes. The show is a favorite of both adults and children as it is very festive, lively and filled with the spirit of Christmas. Tourists also travel during Christmas to international destinations for entertainment. Because the Nutcracker Ballet originated in Russia and that country has worldwide acclaim for some of the most technical and artistic ballet performers, it is a popular destination at Christmas. The legendary Tchaikovsky composed the music for the Nutcracker Ballet, which was first performed in Russia's Mariinsky Theatre that is home to the acclaimed Kirov Ballet. The story is about a little girl's dream on Christmas Eve about a beloved Nutcracker toy she received as a present. Travel to international destinations is also popular at Christmas time to escape the cold of a 'White Christmas.' For those who do not like the cold but like to be out and about at Christmas, the alternative is to go somewhere with a more tropical climate. Travel to destinations in the Caribbean, where Christmas is robustly celebrated, is popular during the Christmas season. One of the intriguing places to travel during the Christmas season is to a place where Santa can be observed. There is such a place in Finland at a village where Santa Claus has his workshop. Travel to see and possibly talk to Santa Claus is a delightful adventure for children. But such a trip has to be made before Christmas Eve when Santa, his elves and reindeers embark on a trip themselves to every home in the world.

Write queen takes a trip

As I told you in a previous newsletter Jason is a wonderful tour guide. Let me tell you about the last “tour”. Normally we take our sightseeing after church on Sunday. This time, however, Jason and Jennifer had business in Guntersville that had to be taken care of on a weekday. Saturday morning we piled into the car, and headed for Guntersville, which is one of the originally settled areas in Alabama and is surrounded by lakes. The business didn’t take long and we headed up the steep hill out of town to have lunch at a place called O’Charley’s. If you’re ever in Guntersville you absolutely must try O’Charley’s potato soup. It is to die for. After eating we started our “tour” which was to include Guntersville State Park. Pennsylvania is my native state, and hills and trees remind me of home. Even though I lived in Florida for 23 years if you wanted to see hills and woods you had to travel north, way north. We probably traveled 30 minutes before we came to our destination, but what a destination it was. We stayed at the lower levels where there were scads of people. We stopped often so Jennifer and Linda could take pictures which I hope to put a selection on my computer so if I can learn from Jennifer how to send them, and if I can learn, watch a future article to contain them. After a complete tour through the parks, going only five or ten miles an hour because of the large amount of children, we headed up the mountain where we saw some beautiful homes with eye-popping views and those for sale had mind-boggling prices – for example $1,500,000 and another one for $672,000. We admired them, kept on going, passing an under-construction lodge which will house a 5 star restaurant. All of a sudden we were to a look-out point where we stopped for more picture taking. We went still higher where there were rental abodes. I can’t call them cottages and I most definitely would not call them camps. They would, in my mind, be classified as lodges. Guess what? They had two which were handicapped accessible. We decided that would be an excellent place to go for a weekend retreat, rent a lodge and eat at the 5 star restaurant. We are all going to start saving our money to do that, and we have a Florida family friend we’re going to invite. Sounds like fun, wouldn’t you agree? We spent a little more time in the state park, and headed home, where my cat and their dogs were glad to see their human family again. Freda Douglas, P. O. Box 155, Eva, AL 35621, gloryb2u@fredadouglas, Phone 256-796-0651 (can-spam)