The Goddess Wants to Know Where and When She Can Find You

To gain the assistance of the "gods," we first need to show up. Replace "gods" with "luck," "the universe," "probability," or whatever else, but the fact remains: discipline, routine, and focus will take you where you need to go.

And sometimes, where you need to go is straight to your writing chair, painting easel, dance studio, squat rack, or workshop.

You need to be in the same place, at the same time, exhibiting the same high level of commitment to your chosen craft - you can't let up for even a single day, or even a moment.

Once you're there, you need to really be there.

You need to say, aloud or to yourself: "This is the level of effort I've committed to. This is where I said I would be. And this is when I said that I would be there."

As Stephen King put it:

According to ancient Greek mythology, the Muses are the sources of inspiration for all of the arts and knowledge. The daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, there came to be nine of them, and they were called Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Thalia, Terpsichore, and Urania.

The writer Steven Pressfield mentions the Muses a LOT in his work, and traditionally, how they appeared on Earth was as a whisper in the ear of the artists and creatives who invoked them and asked for their aid.

Supposedly, the Muses would supply inspiration to whomever successfully got their attention and gained their favor. But they can’t find us if they don’t know where we’re going to be!

That’s why consistency and discipline are so fantastically important.

Obviously, I’m not suggesting that you take this too literally. You don’t have to start worshipping Zeus in order to start building consistency and coming up with awesome ideas for your work.

But the idea behind it is solid: inspiration will come to us when we put in the work. 

We need to be somewhere, already working, in order for us to do our best work. The goddess wants to know where you’ll be, and when you’ll be there so that she can find you.

You won’t have your best ideas by sitting around thinking about getting started.

More of the path will be revealed to you, but you have to be moving, which is basically the idea I’m driving at here.

You don’t know what you don’t know, but by taking consistent action, you’ll put yourself in the best position to win.

You’ll come up with better ideas, more often. You’ll do better work because you’ll be giving your work the care, respect, and attention it deserves and requires.

And you’ll earn the goddess’s favor by showing her that you mean business.

All the best,

Matt Karamazov