Inspiration

The literal Latin translation is to breathe upon. At the oracle of Delphi, a priest would inhale vapors to divine the will of the gods. By the 4th century BC, inspiration anthropomorphized into the nine muses. Each goddess enkindled a specific art form.

Mine is Calliope, muse of epic poetry, not to be confused with Erato, muse of lyric poetry. I worked on a riverboat which had a steam organ, also called a calliope - from the Greek beautiful voice. While I enjoyed the music and the engineering, those living close by eschewed the noisy machine's beautiful voice appellation for a more offensive one. But I digress...

With the rise of Christianity, the Holy Spirit replaced the muses. During the Enlightenment, man turned inward for inspiration. Romantics like Rimbaud and Verlaine used alcohol and drugs. Tolstoy wrote in the village square drawing inspiration from people's faces. Thoreau went into the quiet woods. Marxists believe creative motivation comes from class struggle. Freud traced artistic motivation to the inner psyche.

Each of us must find our own inspirations. It matters not how or where. What we must do is heed our own muse and nourish the muse in others. As ever- BB

"Man's mind, stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension." - Oliver Wendell Holmes