The Muse's Paradox
by Matt Cardin - The twilight zone between creative urgency and daemonic trust
The following article was written by Matt Cardin, the man and the mind behind the publication The Living Dark.
The Living Dark is Matt’s blog/newsletter on creativity for writers, situated at the intersection of religion, horror, nonduality, apocalypse, dystopia, consciousness, and the numinous unknown. Matt is the author of five books and the editor of four more. His books have been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, long-listed the Bram Stoker Award, and praised by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and others.
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This article originally appeared here, I’m sharing it with The BoldBrush Letter because I feel it is a topic of interest to all creatives.
Editor’s Note: Since Matt’s original post was for his paid subscribers only, this post also is only for paid subscribers of The BoldBrush Letter.
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The Muse’s Paradox
Dear reader,
Having a system in place—and more importantly, an abiding, disciplined intention—to capture fleeting ideas whenever they arrive can be immensely powerful and helpful, and even necessary. HOWEVER,
you can also trust that if an idea is meant to be realized, it will come back persistently over time.
This dual understanding has been a part of my philosophical and practical approach to creativity, encompassing both my writing and my music, for many years. I mention it today because it was brought to mind again by a recent Substack Note from Gurwinder containing a quotation from Naval Ravikant:
“Inspiration is perishable—act on it immediately.” This is a forthright statement of one end of a dual or dialectical truth. And it’s one with ample support in both our own individual experience and that of prominent writers and artists who have testified to its truth. At the same time, the complementary proposition—that inspiration is instead persistent— has equal support and deserves an equal hearing.
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