The act of creativity is bigger than us. There is more that we can’t understand about the process. All we can do is be open to it.
The greats knew this.
Bach would inscribe at the top of each manuscript “Soli Deo gloria” to dedicate the work to the power of God. It evoked the muse. Ingmar Bergman would do the same on his film scripts. His thinking, as he revealed in a documentary, was if Bach did it, why not?
Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art invokes the note to the muse, and provides a pretty rousing argument for why you should too. Rick Rubin covers this concept in his book.
During one of her TED talks, Elizabeth Gilbert makes an aside to explain that the linguistic root of “Olé” comes from the word Allah. The term derives from the call of the crowd when they see the spirit of God in the performer – the dancer, or bullfighter. The next day, after the cheers have died down, the performer is a mortal again, and recognising that this spirit has passed through them. It sure makes waking up as mortal easier after a majestic performance.
Frank Zappa had his guitarists to leave a little water out for their instrument if they weren’t going to play it for a few days. It was a way to honour the muse. To keep the communication open. To accept that there was something that was not so easily defined about the creative process.
Pressfield suggests that, similar to the 12 Step Program, this can be anything. It doesn’t need to be a Christian God. You simply need to accept that there is something bigger than yourself. That you are prepared to surrender to its power.