Invite the Lightning: Courting the Muse Beyond the Ego's Boundaries
Creativity as grace
Dear Living Dark reader,
Every writer knows the longing for inspiration—that fleeting, electrifying moment when something larger than ourselves speaks through us. But how do we prepare for those moments of grace? In Chapter Seven of Writing at the Wellspring, I explore the paradox of creativity: the impossibility of controlling inspiration combined with the necessity of showing up, day after day, to invite it.
This chapter dives into the mysterious intersection of discipline and surrender, effort and grace, and the ways in which we can make ourselves more “accident-prone” to the daemon muse’s lightning strike. Along the way, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein emerges as a haunting metaphor for the profound risks and revelations of creative surrender.
Thank you for being here, and for joining me in holding up our lightning rods together.
Warm regards,
Invite the Lightning
Chapter Seven of Writing at the Wellspring: Creativity, Life Purpose, Nonduality, and the Daemon Muse
The Accident of Inspiration
A well-worn bit of Zen wisdom has it that although enlightenment is a total accident, meditation practice can make you more accident-prone. Nobody is quite sure who first said this, but many members of the modern American Zen community have been suggested. It may have been Shunryu Suzuki. Or Robert Aitken. Or Richard Baker. Or it could have been someone from outside the Zen tradition, such as Rajneesh/Osho or J. Krishnamurti. Or it might have been two or more people in combination. I’m personally inclined to think the mystery of the saying’s origin adds to the charm of its insightful expression.
No matter where it came from, what concerns us at the moment is that the same principle holds true when it comes to creativity and the muse. The creative spirit alights on its own schedule. The muse or daemon is under nobody’s control, least of all yours. From your and my point of view, its arrival is an “accident,” a spontaneous, unplannable blessing that is unobtainable through direct effort. But—and here’s the thing, the Zen principle in action—through effort, by practicing, by sitting down to work, you can increase your odds of receiving a visit.