A friend of mine, after recently being publicly recognized, admitted he had been feeling like he was working inside a vacuum. I imagine we all feel like that sometimes. Who doesn’t know that demoralizing and lonely feeling?

I had told him it takes a while sometimes for the ripples we make to hit the shore but it made me wonder later….

What happens if we don’t have a muse’s friend standing at the shore to take notice? Do we lash out with a tsunami of effort? Or do we drown in frustration and despair?

There are so many sayings to cling to as one “bobs” along looking for a place to pushoff.

(One more hammer strike before the rock cracks — just one more — just one more –just one more)

But back to the vacuum. I would imagine any suffocating and tumbling person needs air and somewhere to place their feet. And isn’t it wonderful that perspective plays a huge role in our internal landscape.

The love of our “brainchild” be it service or art or sport provides a foundation, a ground to stand on. We focus on that and the tumbling can stop. There is “land.”

And as for “air” — What ignites our creative souls as assuredly as oxygen ignites the thermal heat in our physical bodies. What is it that “sparks” you? What remains when we cast away laurel wreaths and parades.

For me, with my writing it is giving life to the images. It’s therapeutic because it makes it a whole lot quieter inside my head. It keeps the nightmares at bay. It allows me to contemplate the human equation in complex and fractured perspectives, to harvest emotions and gift/curse them to my imaginary people.

For my fencing, it is becoming more than I am. To become that song in motion. And to be one of the instruments in the orchestra.

For my mentoring…it is to see my young chargers grow and to reach their potential.

My art….my singing…my involvement in the SCA, my professional life, my relationships….

Each of us wear so many hats….

But what happens when you no longer feel your muse’s sweet whispers brushing against your face… if the turmoil of frustration and despair encases you as a maelstrom sucking away the “air” ….and a break consistently does nothing… then perhaps it is time to throw yourself into that blustery storm.

Yes. Allow that tempest (cast aside the despair) to give you the Herculean effort to sweep you back to your muse –perhaps after that tsunami ripple.

(Remember your main goal should never be the needless destruction of the world

And one more thing —
Don’t allow others to be your only source of air)

The journey, with all its hard-won rewards, delights and obstacles is our road. Stay the course, breathe in deep and best wishes.