Monday Muse Report
Conference Highs, Magic Moments, AI, and the King of Cups
Hello and happy Monday!
Today I returned to my desk after a week at the Writer MBA conference in New Orleans. There’s something about spending time in rooms with other writers sharing resources that always leaves me fired up and this con was no exception. It the first one I’ve attended in a long time, though, so I’m feeling supercharged today.
As proof of this, I sat down this morning and knocked out 4200 words. What? I haven’t hit a word count like that in I don’t know how long. Damn. Hopefully this trend will continue because I’m about 40k into this book and itching to get it finished.
Also, I wanted to share a fun moment from my week. As you may know, I live in the French Quarter and it’s a source of endless delight for my muse.
Yesterday, I went out my front gate to receive a grocery delivery and walked right into a parade. I’m not sure what group was putting this one on, but it seemed to be a celebration of Spring. They toss out fresh flowers and cookies to the bystanders. I myself received two carnations and a pack of Oreos, which was pretty awesome.
It got me thinking about how important it is to look for moments of every day magic in our lives as creatives. Sure, I live in the most magical city in America, so it’s easy for me to stumble on these moments, but I bet you can find some where ever you live, too. After all, as a creative person, you’re wired to see these things.
Here’s an idea: Keep a notebook where you jot down little magical moments from your day. The crow who sat outside your window when you sat down to write. The playing card you found on the sidewalk. The overheard snippet of weird conversation you caught at the post office. Write them down along with your Ta Da list for the day. (a Ta Da list is the opposite of a To Do. It’s a list of all the things you did. I’ll talk about this in a future post.)
In my experience, the more you intentionally look for magic, the more it shows up for you. Just a thought.
Onto the Muse Report.
Oh Lawd, AI’s Coming
If you’ve been in the book space online the last week, you’ve no doubt heard about the news that Meta swiped copy righted works from the LibGen data set to feed their AI.
The Atlantic posted a helpful searchable database to check to see if any of your work was stolen.
The Author’s Guild wrote a piece on what authors need to know, which includes a template authors can use to send a letter to Meta.
I know it’s tempting to put your head in the sand about AI, but I’m afraid professional writers (and other creatives) can no longer afford to ignore what’s happening. Fear is terrible for your muse, my loves. Knowledge is a fear killer. Plus you’ll learn that there are things you can do to ensure you have a professional future, so that’s good.
Tarot Prompt
Today’s Tarot Prompt is The King of Cups from The Light Seer’s Tarot by Chris-Anne.
The King of Cups is the master of his emotions. He has great responsibilities but he manages them with ease because he’s not reactive. He’s intuitive, insightful, and self-assured when challenges arise.
The King invites us to follow his example. Investing in ourselves leads to self-assurance. Owning our hard-won wisdom and asserting our authority in honorable ways are the hallmarks of healthy leadership (of self or others).
King of Cups questions to ask yourself about your creative work:
How does my work reflect my values?
How am I fostering my intuition to guide me?
What areas related to my creative work offer opportunities to be a leader?
How can I manage my emotions so that my creative choices are not reactive? (Some suggestions: Meditation. Studying Stoicism. Therapy.)
I’d love to hear what the King of Cups brings up for you today in comments. Also, if you’re struggling with all of this AI news, let’s share resources and chat about it!