A Muse for Life

Milly’s interviewer sat down with Writer A recently, setting up a conversation about the impact of living with Milly on his creativity, his writing, his work.

This is an extract from that conversation.

Interviewer: How does Milly contribute to your creativity as a writer?

Writer A: Morning. What a fabulous question to start with, one which has many answers. Can you give me a slightly tighter brief on this please?

Interviewer: Sure. Lets start with when you wrote most recently. When was this?

Writer A: Thats easy, earlier this morning.

Interviewer: What were you writing about this morning? Was it new content?

Writer A: Earlier this morning, after I woke and made coffee, I sat down to write another section of my recent experiences in Paris, specifically Champagne Day.

Interviewer: Can you describe the scene, and where Milly was in this?

Writer A: Mornings tend to have a familiar pattern for Milly and me. I get up, come down stairs, I tickle and kiss her, and she receives all this. Her contribution is to stretch out her paws, draw me in, especially treating my arm like a stick and holding it between her front paws.

Interviewer: Great, I’m picturing the two of you on the floor, on a carpet, in your cosy warm living room.

Writer A: Not really. Remember, Milly sleeps curled up in her armchair, beside the folding doors which open on the garden and Stamford vistas. I come and kneel beside Milly’s chair, in front of it in fact, and we go from there – for tummy tickles, for ear tickles, for being held, for kisses.

Interviewer: And, may I ask how this morning start with Milly influences your writing, your creativity?

Writer A: In many wonderful and indescribable ways. When I sit at the table, looking out on the world, with Milly still in her chair, I have an almost perfect combination of tranquility and warmth and love. All that is missing is Beautiful T, waking not too far away, with us in every connection, present in every way but physically.

Interviewer: Why is this being with Milly so important for your writing?

Writer A: This sets a context in which I can be freed from whatever influences the world around may want to throw my way. I am truly and completely alive, in this setting. We dont need any media or intrusions or alerts or notifications. We know that we are truly alive, there and then, here and now.

Interviewer: Could you write without Milly’s presence?

Writer A: On mornings like this, Milly’s presence is absolutely vital, providing me with a bedrock, a foundation of life and love from which I can go anywhere I want to, anywhere my writing and my curiosity and my direction takes me.

Interviewer: Does Milly’s contribution end after tickles and kisses?

Writer A: That’s only the beginning. I look up, when I’m getting stuck or getting side tracked. She sits or lies or wanders, quietly and unhurriedly. She may sit beside me, may put her head on my knee, may sigh gently. All of these remind me of the simplicity and beauty of life around us, and I loosen the unnecessary grip which I have usually been taking on something, and let go. I smile, breathe, and move on.

Interviewer: I’m getting the impression that Milly is a muse for life, not just to write.

Writer A: Indeed, a muse for life, a role she shares so well with Beautiful T.