Sunday, May 8, 2011

Why the Muse Sometimes Hides

For Mother's Day Cam, Hill and Levi are stopping by for lunch in the backyard with the chickens and I. Maybe a walk at Destruction Brook Woods, too. Brin and Alex sent me love from Brooklyn with a Tove Jansson book, The True Deceiver. Scandinavia's most beloved childrens book author and illustrator, Tove has actually written more books for adults than children. The wisdom and magic of the Moomintrolls comes through just as elegantly in her novels and short stories for grown ups. Her writings give some of the best insights into nature, art, the artist's place in the world and where creativity comes from. A potent exerpt from "The Spring Tune" part of the Moomin series-
"It's the right evening for a tune, Snufkin thought. A new tune, one part expectation, two parts sadness, and the rest, just the delight of walking alone and liking it. As he settles in to compose, he is disturbed by a small creature, a "creep", which rustles out of the undergrowth, declares its admiration for the famous Snufkin, asks him a lot of questions and demands attention and comfort. Meanwhile, the tune, which until then was forming itself out of the noises of the forest and brook and the slow revelations of the season, disappears. Snufkin has to wait for it to come back".