Welcome all to my humble abode. My name is Liam Reid — Founder of Forgotten Muses — although I would implore you to think less ‘founder’ and more ‘foundational excavator’. My role is more akin to unveiling the substrate, and helping you all discern how best to lay your own robust foundations on which to build.
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Why ‘Forgotten Muses’?
The intention here is twofold: bore by the (what I consider to be exceedingly witty) wordplay imbued within the name ‘Forgotten Muses’ The word ’muse’ has two very distinct readings.
THE FIRST READING HOLDS THE MEANING OF DEEP, REFLECTIVE THOUGHT
In these contemporary days, it appears that we find ourselves trending away from an ability to sit quietly alone, and just think.
As we’re surely aware, our attention-based economy now permeates through all the nooks and crannies of our lives. There is always some combination of social media, advertisements, inflammatory news and politics, movies, television or perpetual cycle of bureaucracy constantly vying for our attention. More often than is good for us, we acquiesce to this psychological hijacking. We allow our minds to be occupied with these menial and inhibiting pastimes, and in doing so, we alienate ourselves from the ability to be grounded by the essential human disposition for reflective thought.
I fear the life unexamined. A deep pang of fear bristles to surface when I consider that modern individuals have forgotten how to think, how to discern and how to develop thoughts of our own. Our beliefs and ideas about elements of the human experience are often given to us — intentionally, or otherwise. These core beliefs inform our actions in such a passive or tacit way that it never even occurs to us treat them as an item to be scrutinised. We hold to these so fervently, but cannot recall when we came to bear these flags.
This is where the study of philosophy becomes instrumental. It is often thought about as a subject for old men in either in togas, or of the gesturing-with-a-smoking-pipe predilection. But philosophy is the most natural human subject; one we engage with daily, in many ways — but just don’t give it the name ‘philosophy’.
One concern is that this may be a rabbit-hole endeavour. We dig, we dig, but only unearth more questions. This is a valid concern with this type of exploration. However, the prospect of coming out answerless doesn’t mean engaging with the question isn’t worthwhile.
Because blessed be for you, what we are looking for here is not the universal truth, but a truth. Something which can have bearing on the way we choose to live our lives. We aren’t attempting to parse answers to save humanity (try as we might). We are simply looking for the answers which will save ourselves.
’MUSE’ CAN ALSO REFER TO THE NAMESAKE MUSES: DAUGHTERS OF ZEUS IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY
(N.B. As is often the case with Greek mythology, there are varying accounts of number, name and domain of the Muses across their history).
These Muses are the inspirations for the arts, literature and science — with each of these nine goddesses finding themselves as the patron Muse of unique domain. To be adorned with their mercy was to have creativity, insight and wisdom overcome you. Thus they were deeply venerated and adored among artists and thinkers.
To encounter the Muses is divine, but by no means forever elusive. As we open ourselves to view the world around us freely — with stillness, care and diligence — so do we open ourselves up to being inspired.
For this, Forgotten Muses is also a place to sow seeds of art and creativity. When share our encounters with profound wonder, we offer our perspective to others, who can then experience the same. Even for those who don’t deem themselves artistically inclined, the insights will still allow us to see The Muses in our everyday lives, and to find a little more inspiration each day.
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The Motif
Forgotten Muses is a forum to share the unique ideas, wisdom, practices and perspectives of individuals and cultures — of past and present. It is to be a compendium of intellectual gold nuggets — a ‘philosophical hardware store’, if you will. The heart of Forgotten Muses is the liberation of thought, nothing here is meant to constitute a cohesive guide to life, or a guide to self-understanding. Each post is not intended to add content to a singular, consistent and growing narrative.
Some ideas we explore may find themselves more rigorous and profound than the rest, requiring root-and-branch reformations of our core beliefs. Whilst others — daresay the majority — will be simple supplements and kind remedies; timeless wisdoms, eye-opening aphorisms, moving perspectives which are easily adopted, yet still paradigm-shifting. We will supply the raw materials, and alongside cultivate the ability to join these materials together by mortar and nail — with our own hands — to build a life of our own making.
As children, the entire world is our realm of exploration. No stone nor tree finds itself exempt from our curiosity. No thought nor idea is too far out there, or too far abound from reality. As we age, we stray further away from that wondrous glade. Forgotten Muses is that safe place; to leave no stone unturned, tree unclimbed, idea unexplored. Here is to be a slice of time to be stretched indefinitely.
