Musical Muses and Bag Boys…A writer’s Inspiration!

Many writers claim to have a muse, which provides them with literary inspiration. I’ve read where a muse can range from an actual person, a stuffed animal, or even a photograph.

In my own writing, I did have a living breathing muse, whose many escapades inspired the racier scenes in my stories. However, since he has slown down a bit or retired his spurs, I’ve discovered another one.

What is my muse?

It’s one single song. Nope, not an entire album, just one song by young R&B heartthrob, Omarion, formerly of the boy band B2K.

I know…I know…why is a grown woman who is old enough to be his mother…or more like his older cousin, so into his music. That I went out and purchased every one of his albums when my taste leans more towards Billie Holliday, David Bowe, and Blondie?

I can’t explain it myself, but this young man’s music, most specifically his track “Ice Box” from the album 21 is the driving force behind all of my stories, except Charmed (Natasha Beddingfield’s “Unwritten” takes the honors on that one).

Maybe it’s due to the fact that’s the song is a man’s earnest plea to his lady love to forgive him for all the troubles in their relationship brought on by his inability to trust because his memories of a past ruinous relationship keep interfering. And although he tries to let the past go, he can’t but think if he opens up to her, she’ll break his heart like the last woman did.

You know…that brings me to another issue. Why do men carry so much baggage? If I had a dime for every “wounded” man I’ve dated who couldn’t get over that one girl who broke his heart, I could sail around the world…twice.

Don’t believe men have baggage? Well according to a twelve year study, “Ten Years On: The Effects of Separation and Divorce on men” conducted by Peter Jordan, he found that men who had been separated from their ex-wives for more than ten years, a whopping 63% still reported feeling as though they were dumped! Many of them also felt that the was a huge mistake and all of them still carried feelings for their ex-wives years later.

Even though the above research pertains to those legally partnered, I think it can be applied to all men single, married, divorced, pimped or otherwise.

Hmmm…bag boy sure does take on a whole new connotation.

Anyway, since I’ve become older and wiser, I now look back at those relationships and realize it wasn’t ALL my fault, or that I wasn’t good enough or pretty enough, maybe it was just simply he couldn’t give up the ghost…the memories of a bad past relationship.

So to all of you bag boys out there these lyrics from Erykah Badu’s “Bag Lady” have been re-written just for you:

Bag boy let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go