Acknowledgements (Part III of III)

The Muse

The Muse, out on the heath

My final acknowledgement will simply be referred to as The Muse.  Her official designation in The Den is Mascot of the Muses to represent the many Muses that came before her and, to my mind, have gone largely under-appreciated.  The Den will be on a crusade to elevate the Muse to her rightful place as a driving force behind great works of Art.  As an ambitious man who wishes his Muse to receive her just due, it will be highly motivating to produce something of high artistic merit so I and others can toast my Muse for showing the way.  Muses either by their own design or by some other mystical force nudge artists thru their often disordered life towards the beauty they can see, hear, and feel but can't quite get to without help.

The Muse departing hotel lobby to hunt wild boar in Sardinia


The Muse first came to my attention when I spotted her witty comments on another blog and that combined with her intriguing name and eye-catching avatar prompted more research.  As I combed thru the archives of her blog, I knew I'd discovered a fascinating personality with a sharp wit, a similar sensibility, and we were also the same age.  From then on, I eagerly awaited each new post to see what was on my dear Muse's mind.  Then one day nearly 2 years ago it happened. A hot off the press post had a pic of the young and precocious  Muse around age 6 that showed all the spirit and personality I had come to know distilled in a little girl.  It just so happened, I was in the process of developing a children's book series based on my boyhood adventures around the time I was 6 years old.  The timing couldn't have been better as I was trying to fight off the black dog and miraculously something appeared to give my little project renewed hope and purpose.  While I had about 8 story lines to begin the series with, my motivation was now fueled by getting the project to a 2nd phase that will include a girl based on The Muse at age 6.  I even had hopes of one day enlisting The Muse to have some kind of collaborative or artistic adviser role.  With the discovery of that young girl and everything it helped ignite, my children's book series had new life and now I had a way of thanking my dear Muse for being the special person who facilitated all this good fortune.

I always work backwards from a vision.  To pay homage to The Muse, I wished to directly connect her to the most beautiful sights and sounds imaginable.  I'll bet more than a few of you would agree that the most beautiful sound in the world is of a child laughing and that there is no more beautiful sight than the look on a mother's face when she hears her child laughing.  My vision was that one day The Muse was going to be walking through a park, airport, or lobby and overhear peals of laughter from a little 6 year old girl as she and her Mum read aloud and share a children's book that stars a character based on The Muse that she helped write about an amusing incident from her childhood.  I envisioned The Muse furtively slinking closer to see that mother's face as she hears her daughter giggling.

~GSL