Monday Muse

Birthdays, Archives, and Bunnies

Hello and happy Monday!

I am blearily typing this on a rainy morning following a three-day bacchanal. My friends came into New Orleans for the weekend to celebrate my 50th birthday. We ate so much good food, shopped, laughed, and danced. There were tiki drinks, fancy desserts, and at least one pantsless man laying in the street to round out our bingo cards. Good times.

In New Orleans, there is a tradition of pinning dollar bills to your top when you go out on your birthday. Sometimes people will give you dollars to add, but mostly everyone who lives here will stop you to wish you a happy birthday. People are genuinely thrilled to tell you to have a happy birthday and will sometimes shout it across the street when they see the money pinned to your shirt. New Orleans can be a hard place, but, at the same time, it is also a soft and warm community that loves to have any excuse to celebrate. I feel so lucky to be able to live here.

Now onto the Monday Muse…

Muse News

A reminder that if you take a look back in the Messy Muse archives, you’ll find all sorts of useful creative prompts, essays, and posts about writing craft. In the past, some of these posts were free (marked below), but moving forward only paid subscribers will be able to read my writing craft lesson posts. If you want access to everything I offer, be sure to become a paid subscriber.

Here are some examples from the archives:

-Creative Vision Tools (free)

-Submission Tracking Basics (free)

-How to Create a Storyboard for Your Novel (paid)

-Make Your Sentences Sing: Using Rhythm in Your Writing (paid)

Tarot Prompt

Today we have a special tarot prompt.

My friend Chelsea Conradt bought me “Wing, Hoof and Paw: An Animal Companion Oracle” written by Angi Sullins and artwork by Stephanie Roberts for my birthday so I’ll share one of those cards this morning.

I pulled Rabbit-Listening for us today.

The accompanying guidebook says:

Get still. Go quiet. Listen deeply. Attune to the the messages both inward and outward, especially the small, quiet ones that are all too often ignored. Rabbit is an adept listener, and his listening ability allows him to navigate the world of predators. Too often, fear, doubt and worry prey on your hopeful projects and long-cherished dreams, consuming them. The little one inside deserves a chance to manifest desire. Listen to the guidance of intuition, encouragement and support. They are as important as paying attention to nagging gut feelings, red flags and warnings. No matter what situation arises now, it’s time to listen deeply in order to protect the soft belly of your deepest longing.

How can you incorporate stillness and listening into your creative work today? Let’s chat about it.