Who Are Your Muses?

Welcome to Art and Healing Wednesday!!

Inspiration is an incredible thing to experience because it opens us up to ever-expanding possibility.  The Ancient Greeks depended on the Nine Muses as their source of inspiration.  I had the enormous pleasure and honor to study with Angeles Arrien the author of, The Nine Muses.  The book is a great reference book for understanding the power of the muses, and how they can be brought into your life at any time and for any purpose.

I could go on and on about the use of art as a healing practice, but I really want to focus on you and what inspires you.  It’s great for me to share my passions, but that doesn’t mean it will be yours and for the muses to aid you in health and healing, the passions need to be yours, something personal.  The muses in Ancient Greek had specific art forms they were responsible for such as dance, writing, song, music, etc.  Each muse could be invoked when needed and this provided comfort and a foundation for the creation of all things beautiful.

When diagnosed with a chronic or life-threatening illness many believe all creativity and inspiration are thrown out the window.  They experience life as a chore and lose the beauty in everything around them.  This is a time to pick up your creativity and utilize it not only for strategies to promote wellness, but to use your voice (figuratively and literally) to promote health and encourage the body to remember times of wellness.

I encourage you to keep a book of inspiration.  I like to start with quotes because they capture the essence of a thought in something memorable.  Once I have the ideas I begin to think about shapes and colors that I find appealing or catch my attention in the moment.  I also focus on shapes because they themselves have meaning.  I like to use circles because they represent wholeness and they make me thing of bubbles and bubbles are fun.  My art is meaningful and playful.  It allows me to tell my story about my life experience.

My muses are music and the great outdoors, at least during the warm weather.  I find myself spending a lot of time at the Botanic Garden because it represent beauty, complexity and simplicity, and of course possibility.  I feel educated and inspired.  Last but not least, I find the garden to be a place of refuge because there are plenty of places  to sit and reflect.  I always bring my camera so I can capture the moments I want to use as a reference, the muse.

What inspires you?  Which of the muses might you invoke to help you capitalize on your inner potential of wellness?  I’d love to see your creations and so would the rest of the world.