POST CARDS FROM THE MUSE

Jump Start

By Nandy Ekle

I was innocently scrolling through Facebook yesterday, minding my own business, and reading about everyone else’s business. I was taking a short fifteen minute break from my intense day job.

As I scrolled, I came across a short video. Now, since I joined Facebook all those years ago, I have seen tons of videos, I’ve read tons of memes, and I’ve even participated in one or two. But there have only been a few that have stuck to me as if they had glue on them.

There was once a video of two cats playing Patty Cake that I enjoyed very much. I also fell in love with a video of a wedding where the entire wedding party comes into the auditorium dancing like it’s the happiest day of their lives. I’ve had a lot of fun with some of the music videos, and, of course, pictures and videos of children and cats/kittens are always fantastic.

But this short little flick I saw yesterday was really not funny, unless you have a twisted sense of humor like I do. It was a 60 second story that ended with a scare. I watched it and broke out in giggles, which is what I do when I’m scared or nervous (I’m a total riot walking through a spook house in October). So I watched it again. And then again.

And that’s when it happened. A new story. I immediately had a plot, characters, scenes, and an ending. The biggest problem I had was deciding the best place to start. So I just put my hands on the keyboard and began typing. I was halfway through the second page when the title to my new project flung itself on the screen. The title was so perfectly diabolical that I sat giggling as much as if I actually was walking through a spook house.

The point of all this is that inspiration can jump out and attack you at the most unexpected times by the most unexpected things. Don’t be afraid to look at anything.

Congratulations. You have just received a post card from the muse.