Tag: Muse

To All My Blogger Friends.


Kiss Of The Muse by Paul Cezanne.

I recently had to locate a relevant quote for an important communication, and luckily remembered this old poem. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did revisiting and using it for a very noble purpose.

HIGH is our calling, Friend!–Creative Art
(Whether the instrument of words she use,
Or pencil pregnant with ethereal hues,)
Demands the service of a mind and heart,
Though sensitive, yet, in their weakest part,
Heroically fashioned–to infuse
Faith in the whispers of the lonely Muse,
While the whole world seems adverse to desert.
And, oh! when Nature sinks, as oft she may,
Through long-lived pressure of obscure distress,
Still to be strenuous for the bright reward,
And in the soul admit of no decay,
Brook no continuance of weak-mindedness–
Great is the glory, for the strife is hard!

~William Wordsworth.

The Old Man And His Soul.

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity.
~Christopher Morley


Among many magazines, I subscribe to a monthly journal from the Ramakrishna Mission which contains articles on spiritualism and religion. In the May 2011 issue, it contained a review of a book which was very intriguing. The review ended with; “The lesson to be learnt is that, an attitude of service above self will find a purpose in life even after retirement, feelings of neglect/rejection being imaginary.”

This conclusion persuaded me to send for the book and I am now very glad that I did.

Once I started reading it, I could not put it down till I finished it. There were just too many similarities between the central character in the book and me though there were a lot more of differences too. Many thoughts that have been troubling me have now taken new understandings. The differences were primarily in the old man’s experiences during his stay at home after his wife’s death when the daughter in law takes over all authority of running the household and his perceived powerlessness and uselessness. The similarities however, are what he begins to understand when he sets out on his journey. Though the background is very Indian, the message is universal.

The author claims that the book is divinely inspired and I can understand that claim. For a lady author to write about a man like that would not have been possible unless of course, she was exposed to a man in a similar situation. Even in the latter case, the insights that she develops are certainly possible only with some Muse working overtime.

Those who are interested in such journeys, that the brief review on the link given for the book talks about, may read it and gain an insight into a man’s journey to find himself.

Inspiration.

I hope that you enjoy reading another post of the Friday Loose Bloggers’ Consortium when eleven of us post on the same topic chosen by one of us. Today’s topic has been chosen by Grannymar.

Please do visit Ashok, Conrad, Grannymar, Magpie11, Maria, Gaelikaa, Helen, Judy, Anu and Ginger to see ten other views on the same topic. Some of these bloggers may be preoccupied with vacations, examinations, family problems and/or romance, so be a little indulgent in case they do not post or post late.

“Amateurs wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work.”
– Chuck Close

I flatter myself that I am not an amateur! Grannymar’s inspiration for choosing this topic is certainly an inspired one! She must have thought very hard for a long time to come up with something that only she can do justice to. Just watch. She will come up with a beauty of a post on this subject. I cannot. I am not an amateur. I am a dependent worker.

I leave it to my Muse to come up with the inspiration, perspiration or whatever it is that enables me to write fairly regularly on my blog. I give complete credit to the Muse. I simply sit at the computer and the topic as well as the content simply flows. Even the ideas for borrowing from various sources come from the Muse.

It is therefore perfectly justifiable that I end with another quote.

“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”
– Cyril Connelly

Fortunately for me, and just to annoy old Cyril, my Muse has a public that frequently reads her writings.