My Prayer to the Muses

Reading the War of Art gave me the idea to say a little prayer to the Muses before I start my writing sessions. But I didn’t want a generic…

Reading the War of Art gave me the idea to say a little prayer to the Muses before I start my writing sessions. But I didn’t want a generic prayer written in ancient Greece. I wanted my own, so I sat down and wrote one.

Now I say it before every writing session.

I say it absolutely seriously and with respect to powers much greater than myself.

Whatever you choose to call those powers makes no difference. Every artist who sticks with their craft long enough feels an invisible force guiding them at every turn.

You can call it the Muse, the great spirit, God, angels, the creative force or chi. It doesn’t matter. Those are just words. It’s us projecting our tiny minds onto something infinitely more complex and mysterious.

You see, every artist has a dirty little secret.

Creativity comes through us, but it’s not of us.

We aren’t really creating anything. We’re just taking dictation.

All we have to do is get out of our own way long enough and the creative spirit takes over, flowing through us, animating our feet to dance, controlling the swirls of our paint brush or making our fingers float across the page.

I’ve come to see the Muse as real, something formless, eternal, there for any artist who crys out to it with sincerity and humility, something that guides us and gives endless gifts to those who can hear its whisper. Those gifts come in the form of serendipity for your work. Suddenly you’re walking along and the perfect idea hits you and you know just what to do next.

To hear her speak you need only quiet your mind and then she goes to work in your life.

Feel free to take this prayer as your own.

I believe it brings joy to the Muse to hear it and she in turn suffuses me with creative energy.

Also feel free to alter it.

Some of it addresses personal struggles that I face, that you may not. At my worst, I tend to see the world filled with divine malevolence. I ask the Muse to free me from this horribly limiting view.

I’m sure you have your own demons.

Ask for help with them, in the most humble way you can.

Never demand.

Remember, the creative force wants to help, but it’s not a fan of arrogance or ignorance.

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O’ Muse:

May I prove worthy of your inspiration and strength today,

As I write,

Let your song sustain me,

And my passion go with me,

Giving rise to insight and understanding,

Allow my spirit and body to work in harmony,

Let me see beyond myself,

And into the true nature of the stars,

Let my daily life dissolve,

And grant me freedom from distraction and fear,

Guide my every day,

So that I may always find the time to do my real work,

I ask only for the opportunity

Of open doors,

So I might walk through and serve your will,

I let go of tomorrow and her seductive whispers,

I think not of the fruits of my labor,

But of the labor alone as my reward,

Let my mind drop away so my true awareness flows through,

Protect me as I wade into the seething creative fires,

So I am not consumed,

Above all let me perceive purpose in pain and adversity,

And see the will of the spirits at work,

Rather than the illusion of divine malevolence,

So that I might create something worthy of your favor,

And give meaning to my sacrifice.

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A bit about me: I’m an author, engineer and serial entrepreneur. During the last two decades, I’ve covered a broad range of tech from Linux to virtualization and containers.

You can check out my latest novel, an epic Chinese sci-fi civil war saga where China throws off the chains of communism and becomes the world’s first direct democracy, running a highly advanced, artificially intelligent decentralized app platform with no leaders.

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