We tend to be attracted to confident, bold, defiant people in the world of art.

Many times audacity can go further than even talent.

The talented artist, writer, or musician who does not show belief and confidence can flounder, when someone less talented but with assertive belief can flourish.

Being convinced in the merit of our work is an attractive energy that sells and magnetizes attention as much for the product as for the belief itself. Spending time working on confidence, acting “as if” we are worthy, excellent, daring and courageous would be time well spent for the creative person desiring success.

That is why one of the nine Greek Muses was upgraded to a Muse with moxie called Audacity.

The word “audacity” is a synonym for boldness, daring and courage. Other synonyms include grit, guts and, appropriately — patience. The Muse Audacity is here to inspire these qualities in order to endow Mortals with the courage they need to be creatively liberated, and to be themselves without explanation or apology.

You have probably heard someone exclaim “WELL …THE AUDACITY!” about someone who had the nerve to do something bold and perhaps rude.

Audacity in the case of Muse creativity is not disrespect toward other mortals, or toward oneself. Audacity’s influence includes respect — yet this does not necessarily mean a positive public opinion is needed. In fact, one of the favorite things Audacity encourages mortals to believe is “Listen, if everyone likes what I’ve done, I haven’t gone far enough … it is not possible to be liked by everyone if I am deeply authentic and true to myself.”

And this is perfectly okay.

How do you go about believing in yourself to the degree that magnetizes creative success?

Any change in thought process has to be done with patience and persistence.

The downfall of any self-help program is not informing the participant that results do not happen overnight.

The Secret, The Power of Now, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People inspire enthusiasm which can temporarily lift us out of our old habits of thinking, but if not practiced in small increments of time over several months, the old habits come back because the brain has not adopted the new habit.

Many people are not that patient or do not realize the amount of time it takes to make progress down a new path and give up. The persistent ones rise to the top. Belief Strategies:

   1. Dwell on being confident for at least 30 seconds a day. It seems like a ridiculously small period of time, but if we do not find 30 seconds a day to make a change we are in self sabotage. Very small periods of time prevent the fear mechanisms of our brain to be triggered so creativity can emerge to make a change. Fear turns off the cortex, the creative center of the brain which is one of the most common reasons creative people block as soon as they show up to the page or the canvas.

   2. Act “as if… “ This in itself is an act of creativity — you are creating a persona that will soon be matched with action. Feel the confidence in your body, relive empowered moments and apply their energy to the present.

   3. Collect and post compliments you’ve received, empowering quotes, the names of audacious individuals as fortifiers — daily vitamins for your courageous soul. Here is a favorite quote from Terry Cole-Whittaker: “What other people think of me is none of my business.”

   4. Get permission from audacious people not by asking them, but by thinking to yourself “They can do it, so can I,” but remember to expect small gains not huge ones. Never give your power away.

   5. Use creative license. You are a creative individual, we are allowed a margin of eccentricity, of individuality, of audaciousness. Claim yours. Define yourself with what triggers your intuitive joy not by what is popular with other people.

A friend of mine once told me about an artist who exhibited his work and as people looked at his paintings he stood in a corner and hissed at them. He’s an artist, he can do that with freedom. And that’s one of the most wonderful things about the creative process — it is a synonym for freedom but only if we rise courageously to the task of authentically being ourselves.


Meet the Muse Audacity -
MUSE OF Courage & uninhibited uniqueness

MEANING OF NAME
Liberation from the opinion of others

DOMAIN
Teaching self-confidence and freedom to be one's self — being true to oneself

THE SELECTION of AUDACITY

It took very little deliberation for the Muses to come up with this new modern day equivalent. Trying to stay non-judgmental, the Muses kept correcting themselves when they referred to mortals as “those wimps.”

“Oops, I mean mortals,” they would correct themselves time after time. Muses are compassionate beings, but they often err on the side of being a little too brazen. They just cannot believe how many mortals sell out their creative brilliance because they are afraid of what other mortals might think.

Because look, here is the reality — mortals think judgmental thoughts toward another mortal’s creative expression substantially less than imagined. If another mortal does think something judgmental, that thought process usually takes up about 30 seconds.

Think about it — these self-conscious mortals hold back their destined creative exaltation, often their entire life, because they fear a 30-second judgment from other mortals who don’t deserve that much power in the first place.

They just need a little more moxie, a little more … audacity. And when the Muses reached that conclusion, Aha-phrodite said “Yes, … audacity is exactly what they need, so let’s make ‘audacity’ a Muse.” The others concurred unanimously with catcalls, a few “whoops,” and one somersault.

BOTTOM LINE

As expressions of God, we have the ability to manifest our divine authenticity and unique form of creative brilliance.

Through our willingness to share our originality we share with the world the beauty, insight, and ingenuity our creator has given us.

We must share with audacious courage, believing that as we do, we make a sweeping statement that can change the world around us.

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Copyright © Jill Badonsky, 2007. All rights reserved.

Originally published on Creativity-Portal.com -see her author section.

Republished here with permission.

'Meet the Muse Audacity' is an excerpt from her book The Nine Modern Day Muses and a Bodyguard: 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence.

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Photo added by Douglas Eby: Agnes De Mille - here is a quote of hers:

Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how.
The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.
The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong,
but we take leap after leap in the dark.

~~~

Titles related to Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching, by Robert Maurer, PhD:
Book: One Small Step Can Change Your Life.
CD/Workbook program One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way to Success.

creative risks, creative inspiration, developing creativity, creative potential, creative expression, creativity books, Jill Badonsky