But, today, I want you to be the hero of your story.

I insist on this because too often, my clients come to me and reveal that they are the villain in the story of their lives. How can that be, I wonder?

Be the Hero not the Villain

We talked about too this and too that, last week. That’s part of what I’m saying again, this week.

You are not too this or too that. When you say those things, you become the villain in your own story.

The hero doesn’t lament being too tall or too short or too fat or too thin. Yes, she has doubts. Yes, she hesitates and wonders if someone else should be doing this task.

But she most often learns that it’s not the struggle, it’s the epiphany that comes from the struggle, that rules the say.

She can see through the veil of self-doubt that she is on the right path, a rocky path perhaps, but the right path, to reach her goal.

And, in the shadows, she sees demons or dragons, but there on the edges, she sees angels ready to help her bring her dream to life.

Is Your Muse an Angel?

 My muse, as I said, is Edgar Allan Poe. A genius of a bygone century, who lives on in word and video, forever. I have two photos of him over my desk. I have dozens of books by him or about him, on my bookshelves.

I adore him. I allow him to guide me past the troubled areas of my world, and into a light he could not see, during his life.

It’s rather like having an imaginary friend. Someone to share deep dark secrets with, who will not judge or point fingers.

Your muse may be an angel. An angel you know. We all have them. I am not religious, let’s put that out there, but the concept of an angel at your side is a universal one, and the warmth of such comes from a caring Universe. A Universe I tell you all the time that wants you to be wildly successful!

We embrace the idea of angels, and how they guide us forward into a life of joy, because it’s comforting. We do it because we miss family members or friends who are no longer here on Earth. We do it because we have a deep-seated desire to believe in more tomorrows than we know we are entitled to.

 I won’t dictate how or what you believe. If you have an angel at your side, how precious is that?

If, instead of an angel, you are guided, as I am, by a muse, so be it. That’s a positive thing.

If you have neither, I suggest you do a bit of soul-searching and find one or the other.

Yes, a muse can be even be a real life being you admire and trust.

Genius and Power of a Muse

We learn, from dictionary.com that muse, the noun, means:

any goddess presiding over a particular art.

(sometimes lowercase) the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, 
artist, thinker, or the like.

(lowercase) the genius or powers characteristic of a poet.

Notice the word Goddess.

Isn’t that you?

Have I not told you that your talent, your artistic nature, your magic, will make you money if you choose to have it so? The Goddess in you is not a mythical creature of legend, she is real, and honest, and beautiful and she shines within everything you create, whether you make product with your own hands, or develop product-services to help others.

The goddess lives in women as a unique flow of energy. She is a hero in our journey, and she can also be our muse, if we so desire.

The Darkness Opens into Light

You may wonder why I have chosen a dark figure, as we see Edgar Allan Poe depicted re:  his famous poem, The Raven.

I chose him because his writing is both evocative and provocative. He writes with clarity and design. He, to my mind, never allowed society to force him into its terrible mold, the one used for those who are deeply artistic – a mold with limiting edges and pointed seams across the floor, the better to trip us up and make us scream. .

Edgar Allan Poe refused to be what he wasn’t. It cost him. If what we learn of him is true, his deep desire to forever be true to the nature of his soul, cost him dearly.

And still, he stumbled on that path until the end. Where the struggle took him did not perhaps reach the epiphany I hope for you, or the one I hope for myself, but it did create a lasting legacy for a man who was altogether too dark, too much, too soon, too brilliant.

And so I leave you with that. Being too something can work for you, or against you.

For me, my muse invites light into my life. His work lives on, perhaps too focused on the macabre, perhaps just focused on what his soul told him to write. He is thought of as the inventor of the American mystery genre. His writing that presages the Twilight Zone.

The dark design that he created also opens a door to more light, for me. The light comes from learning how to stand in that doorway, see the shadows, but welcome the sunlight.

Inspiration comes from the Universe, or that angel who guides you. The Universe brought me Edgar Allan Poe..

Who did she bring for you? Tell me in the comments or visit the Facebook page and post about your muse there.