Feeding Your Muse

I found myself in a rut. There were lots of sad and stressful things in the early part of this year that nearly drowned me. Working like a dog in my day job then having surgery, death of a loved one, fighting addiction issues with a number of people dear to me threatened to do me in. Then, while recovering from surgery, I began a new novel.  At first, I felt guilty  as my head went off into a Steampunk dreamworld of sex and Jamaica and pirates and such. Soon after though, I felt blessed by my creativity that I didn't crawl into a bottle or worse. I am so grateful to not have cracked up completely. As things got worse, I found far less time to write.  I thought the new story would die outta me but I did somethings I recommend for everyone facing such harsh times and need to not clog up creatively and permanently. It's like crawling from a trench flooded with bodies, blood and ruined lives to the safty of firmer ground, discovering something loving, quiet and pleasurable.
To feed your Muse through such  emotional wars, I recommend these actions...
STEAL TIME. No one needs us to be connected by phone 24 hour, seven days a week.
DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE. If you can, don't even check it once you have that precious "alone" moment while you are enjoying it. I don't give a damn what excuse anyone gives you, even the finest Doctor has a moment away from the phone. I visited Forbidden Planet Comics here in NYC and brought "The Art of The Dragon" and "SAGA" a new comic from Image. I looked at and made plans to buy a HUGE tome on Alan Moore. This was a massive leap away from the horror my life was spinning in an out of.
Another helpful thing I did was instead of endlessly talking to friends and family over and over about the stuff going on, I'd take that half hour I'd spend on the phone after the more critical stuff was over and write. I found that I'd spent lots of moments talking with people about stuff that was no longer in my control and I suspect many of people do.
 Taking the long route to and from work to grab a few more moments on the way home via the park and or, to pass some gallery widows or a Museum facade was super helpful. It was a promise to myself that I'll get back THERE. The numbness began to subside. Lastly, all the goofball affirmations that are squirted out like ketchup from well meaning friends, I avoided. I found words and sayings that meant far more to me then, I shared them. As a result, I receive images and affirmations from friends that understand my needs online. My story "Gold Veil Angel" is flowing now. The moment there was a break, I snatched two days at the beach then, my fiance and I took a weekend away. We did it the very cheapest ways we could and it worked. No matter how broke you are, steal time for yourself, buy one creative item or join a Library and borrow a good book you can actually touch, take a tiny vacation no matter how broke you are to avoid a nervous breakdown just as long as the most basic stuff is cared for first. Above all else, love what project you are working on and completely ignore the phone from time to time.
I'm pretty sure my next selfish moment will be to find a few hours to see Snow White and The Huntsman. YES, I think seeing a movie that is not on Netflix, count as feeding the Muse.