It starts innocently enough. You’re minding your business; writing performance reviews and keeping your caffeine level just below “oracle.” And someone wanders into your life and suddenly… you’re different. You start thinking in color again. Your sentences flirt back. Your ideas hum like they’ve had too much espresso.
That’s how the Muse gets you.
They don’t crash through the ceiling on a thunderbolt. They just show up, and somehow you start showing up, too.
And before you ask; no, they don’t always look like the daughters of Zeus. Sometimes they’re the coworker who drops wisdom in between Teams calls (Erica Forman). Sometimes they’re a friend whose courage quietly rewrites your own story (Dr. Lisa Nemchek, PhD, RN, miss you so much.) Sometimes they’re just that person who reminds you what aliveness feels like.
My muses have been many people, in many forms. They didn’t hand me answers, they handed me permission… to write what I actually think and to speak without rehearsal. To be the version of myself that doesn’t need an HR-approved filter (irony not lost on me).
They helped me turn my self-doubt into fuel. Become generous where I used to hoard energy. And taught me that peace doesn’t always come from clarity; sometimes it comes from surrender.
A true muse doesn’t seduce you. They switch you on.
They awaken your SNAKs without a trace: your Skills sharpen in the spark, your Network expands through genuine connection, your Activities get bolder, your Knowledge grows not from study but from living out loud.
So, if someone in your orbit makes you feel more like yourself, don’t overthink it. Don’t dismiss it as coincidence. That’s divine Wi-Fi. You just got upgraded.
Your turn: Who’s been your muse lately—and do they know? Tag them (or keep it cryptic) in the comments. Let’s honor the ones who make us cosmic again.
