Over the years, I’ve performed stories that run four hours or more. Afterward, someone inevitably approaches me and asks, “How did you memorize all that?”
I always give the same answer:
“I don’t memorize anything. I work with my Muse.”
That response usually earns a puzzled look. So let’s talk about what I mean.
What Is the Muse?
The word “Muse” comes from Ancient Greece. It’s the root of words we use every day – music, museum, amusement. The Greeks imagined nine Muses, divine figures who inspired poetry, history, song, and science.
The word inspiration itself means “to breathe in.” The Greeks believed that when an artist began to create, the Muse literally breathed ideas into the performer.
When Homer began The Iliad, he didn’t say, “I am about to tell you a story.” He opened with:
“Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus’ anger, doomed and ruinous,
that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss
and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
leaving so many dead men…”
He was invoking Calliope, the Muse of eloquence. In other words, he was asking for help. He was acknowledging that the task ahead, reciting a 15,000-line epic, required something beyond memory. Homer was stepping aside so the story could come through him.
He does the same at the beginning of The Odyssey:
“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story
of that man skilled in all ways of contending,
the wanderer, harried for years on end,
after he plundered the stronghold
on the proud height of Troy.”
Not about me. Through me.
Centuries later, John Milton did something similar when writing Paradise Lost. As a Christian, he invoked the Holy Spirit rather than a Greek goddess, but the principle was the same: before attempting something vast, he asked for inspiration.
Across centuries and cultures, artists have recognized this: creative work is not purely mechanical. It is relational. You prepare, yes, but then you open yourself to something larger.
What This Means for Modern Storytellers
You don’t have to believe in Greek goddesses to access your Muse.
Call it imagination, call it the unconscious mind, call it creative flow. The label doesn’t matter nearly as much as the practice.
For me, the Muse is closely tied to imagery. Notice that the word imagination contains the word image. When I tell a story, I’m not reciting memorized paragraphs. I’m watching a movie inside my mind.
If I can clearly see the snow blowing across a mountain ridge, I don’t have to remember what to say about it. The words arise naturally from the image. If I hear the creak of a ship’s timbers in a storm, I don’t search for language, the language follows the sensory experience.
The work, then, is not memorization. The work is building vivid, living inner imagery.
I’ll explore practical methods for strengthening mental imagery in future posts. It’s a skill that can be developed deliberately.
The Ritual of Invocation
Before almost every performance, I stand backstage with my 12-string guitar. The curtain is drawn. The audience hums beyond it. I walk in the half-light, playing fragments of themes I’ll use later.
And then, quietly, I ask for help.
“Oh Muse,” I say, “please come tonight. I’m just a human being. These people are waiting.”
Is this superstition? Perhaps. But psychologically, it does something powerful. It shifts me from ego to service. It reminds me that the story matters more than my performance of it.
That small ritual steadies my nerves. It opens the door.
And when it works (as it usually does) the imagery begins to flow. I can see, hear, smell, and feel the world of the story. At that point, I’m no longer performing from memory. I’m reporting from experience.
How You Can Access Your Muse
Here are a few practical steps:
- Shift from memorizing words to building images.
Ask yourself: What does this scene look like? Sound like? Feel like? - Create a simple pre-performance ritual.
It doesn’t have to be mystical. It can be as simple as taking a breath and consciously inviting your creativity to engage. - Step aside.
Don’t try to control every word. Trust the images you’ve built. - Practice seeing before speaking.
The clearer the inner picture, the more naturally language will arise.
The Muse isn’t a relic of ancient mythology. It’s a useful metaphor for a very real creative process. When you cultivate imagery and humility, you create conditions where inspiration can breathe in.
And once it does, the story tells itself.
More to follow.
– Odds Bodkin
