Hypnotic State

As I continue the toiling of working on my book and other assorted writing pieces, I continue to notice a trend when it comes to my muse appearing or not appearing. I've read and seen some presentations on hypnotism, and never really believed in it until recently. In my case, my muse seems to be connected to my hypnotic state.

When I was a child I would come up with most of my ideas while either running for the cross country team at school, or being driven places on the bus or in the family car. The act of moving and not having to focus on anything specific put me, unknowingly, into a meditative and hypnotic state. I was alert, true, but I was also tapping into my subconscious, seeing images of characters in my mind and hearing snippets of their dialogue to each other. After the run or the ride in the car, I would hurry to write down what I saw and heard, and that would turn into a few chapters of the latest manuscript. (In case you're wondering, yes, they are all still in a file box, newly rescued from the unorganized filing cabinet that was overflowing. They may have some water damage from a basement flood, but they are still readable - thank-you Smith Corona!) Today, I can put myself into that state by listening to music during the drive to or from a job, and sometimes simply going for a walk.

The illusive muse. She doesn't always appear, but sometimes she can be coaxed out of the ether. It's glorious when that happens!