The Guest Muse

Despite the powerful bond that exists between them and their Artist, Muses are poorly-understood creatures, even by the Artists themselves.  Most people believe Muses are akin to dryads or other nature spirits, in that if a Muse becomes too far separated from their Artist, they will become severely weak and may even die, if not simply disappear altogether.  Many Artists hold this belief, keeping their Muses close by and becoming incredibly anxious if they should ever leave their sight.

This belief, however, is both erroneous and unfortunate.  Muses, who are creatures of pure creative energy, are not so easily done away with.  In fact, it is actually quite beneficial for one to let their Muse have free reign and wander where it wills, as this will only lead to a greater breadth of experience and therefore much richer creativity.  In addition, sometimes a Muse and their Artist need some time away from each other.  As much as we would wish otherwise, Artists are mortal creatures of the material world and therefore have needs and obligations that they must attend to, which unfortunately precludes the need to unleash their creative impulses.  To keep your Muse so close during these periods and other times of low creative drive and motivation is only frustrating for both parties, and I have seen such relationships sour and creativity alarmingly drop because of this.  I will even admit that my Muse and I have had similarly rough times in the past, and it's only because we agreed to have some time to ourselves that I feel we still are able to work so well together to this day.

On the other hand, giving your Muse the freedom to roam is also an extremely terrifying proposition.  Muses are mysterious creatures, this much is undisputed, but this does not necessarily mean that they are secretive.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  The only relationship a Muse has that is stronger than the one with its Artist is the one it has with another Muse.  Have you ever been in a teahouse frequented by free-roaming Muses?  It's both horrifying and downright scandalous!  If you truly value your privacy, then you should never become an Artist in the first place.

Another risk of letting your Muse wander freely is that it leads to a phenomenon that I call having a "guest Muse".  Now, an Artist working with more than one Muse is actually a lot more common than most people think.  This typically happens when two or more Artists collaborate on a project, but it also occurs when an Artist invites another's Muse or lends theirs to a fellow Artist for a short period of time.  This is highly recommended as it will give you ideas that you and your Muse wouldn't have come up with on your own, not to mention that it's often highly enjoyable for all parties involved.  It is also not unheard of for a single Artist to have two, or sometimes even more, Muses of their own.  This is often found with multidiscipline Artists, with each Muse specializing in a particular creative field.

However, where having a guest Muse is not as welcomed is when the visiting Muse shows up uninvited, or at least not invited by the Artist.  This is often very disruptive, as both Muses will have an idea that they want their Artist to bring to life right away.  Now, this normally wouldn't be too unusual, as dropping random ideas without consideration of what their Artist is currently working on is just how most Muses are, but in these cases the ideas in question, at least in my experience, seem specifically crafted to embarrass the Artist as much as possible.

Such is the case with a Muse by the name of Petina.  Petina is the Muse of a good friend of mine and typically takes the form of a small, white mouse about eight inches tall.  It's hard not to like her, as she is a very adventurous spirit, which has led my friend to create grand, sometimes harrowing tales of adventure in faraway lands, both in the literal and metaphorical meanings of the phrase.  Unfortunately, Petina is also quite a lascivious creature with practically no sense of shame.  This may not sound so bad to some of you, but trust me, it can become wearying after a while, especially since she loves to see people squirm.

So imagine my dread when my Muse returns to my hotel room from a short jaunt in town with that little rodent perched on her shoulder.  The devious grins on both their faces told me that I was not going to get any rest until after they've had their way with me.

It was just a simple story, they said.  Only about five pages, they said.  Why did I believe them?  I suppose I never did from the very start, but when you have those two with such sweet smiles on their faces, it's hard to resist, especially when they perch on your shoulders and start seductively whispering all sorts of imaginative things into both of your ears.  At that point, you can't focus on anything else until you banish it to paper.

Resigning myself to such a fate, I gave in and sat down at the desk, pen in hand and paper before me.  Of course, they weren't going to make things easy for me, as Kindy was sidled against me with her soft, velvet hand on mine the entire time, and Petina kept whispering snippets of dialogue so lusciously that she might as well have started licking my ear.

It took twelve pages and nearly four hours before they were through with me.  My face and ears were burning red-hot by the end of it, and I was thoroughly wound up even though the story had ended.  I did manage to confound my tormenters a little, though.  Muses are big on ideas, but not so much on details, which left me with immense creative control over what I was writing, even though I had little say otherwise.  Petina was especially disappointed in my comparatively minimalist style, but she certainly pushed the boundaries of that artistic decision to their limits.

In my haste to bring the story to its conclusion, though, I fear I have left myself open to further sessions of torment.  I neglected to resolve all the loose threads in the tale, leaving far too much to gracefully leave up to the readers' interpretations.  Further installments will have to be written, and now Kindy and Petina will be able to goad my artistic integrity into action along with my passions.

I don't know if I will ever be able to publish this in good conscience, not without coming up with a good penname first.  Knowing Petina, however, I won't have any rest until I unleash it upon an unsuspecting world, even if I have to print the damn thing myself.

Powers bless and curse that mouse.  I don't know how my friend puts up with her every day.