This muse is a bit unusual because why not?

I was singing along to John Legend, and his lyrics skipped me by all those times I listened to his song “All of Me.” Get this, he sings: “You’re my muse!”

Of course, it made me think he was singing about us. We have such a great thing going here.

We have a theme song and didn’t even know it!

As great as our muse is, we have to do a little housecleaning now and then – like getting a new headshot. So I went and (get this) paid money to get a real headshot.

The only other time in my life I needed a headshot (when I tried out for Mamma Mia!), Alex took my photo. I complained that he made me look like an old housewife, and he said, “If that’s what you think you are. I can’t make you look any different.”

You get that when you ask your husband, who’s not a professional photographer, to take your picture.

There was one other time, when I had my photo taken professionally when Dad and I went to New York City when I was a kid. It was the windiest day ever, and I could feel the wind literally trying to pick me up and sweep me away. I loved it—imagining that I could have a chance to fly away if not for Dad holding my hand. After Dad did his commercial, the photographer took two photos of Dad and me.

They’ve been through a fire and are all the worse for wear, but I love these photos all the more!

As glorious as that moment was, I wound up at my first adult photo shoot. In my nervousness, I told the story about how Alex called me an old housewife (out of context and without explaining that I was the one who called myself that first). She wanted me to tell him how unhappy she was with him for saying that.

Then she preceded to ask me to stop jetting my chin out when I smiled. Say what? The girls are always on me about not putting my one eyebrow up. That only took me 15 years to master – and was relatively easy to do during cancer (when I had no eyebrows to worry about raising) but here I was trying to figure out how not to have a double chin in the middle of my photo shoot. I started making faces that made me look far worse than my Mamma Mia headshot from 2019, so then she said, “Never mind. You’ve obviously been doing it your whole life.”

Regardless of what I was doing with my chin, somehow by the end of our time together I was enjoying myself, and then, it was time to go.

So with my new headshots, I did the next best thing a mama can do to update her image, I wrote a new ‘About Me’ page.

So if you’re new to the muse, or even if you’ve been with me for a long time, you’ll be surprised to learn I clean up pretty nicely.

But enough about me – let’s get to my ‘About Me’ page – the Muse within!

Hello, I’m Mama – a muser, a storyteller, an explorer of life. I’ve been called many things: a writer, a homemaker, a cancer survivor, and a mother. But, at heart, I’m just someone who loves to find the humor in life, the silver linings in the cloudiest days, and the stories that make us who we are.

A Muse is Born

Life has a peculiar way of catching you off guard. One moment, you’re a college student studying journalism; the next, you’re a mom of two, trying to find your identity amidst the chaos of motherhood. And then…you’re hit with cancer. But I’ve learned that these unexpected twists and turns that shape us, mold us, and, ultimately, inspire us. After all, it was my own rollercoaster ride that birthed my muse.

Noodling Around with the Muse

In my early writing days, every muse ended with a question. Hard to believe, right? Even my piece on Kobe Bryant, a story that touched people before I fully grasped the power of storytelling, ended with a question mark.

Then, a friend pointed out the redundancy of ending with questions when my entire muse provoked thought. So I began penning longer, winding muses, much like my lengthy walks with our dog, Holly. I often wrote three muses in one, akin to a book chapter. Some readers suggested, “You’ve got to write a book.” Didn’t they realize I already was?

Cancer forced me to be concise. I set aside my series on basketball legends MJ and Dr. J (those unwritten posts are still tucked away) and began chronicling my health journey.

Once I had exhausted my experiences with cancer – literally, metaphorically, and physically – and barely had time to pull myself together, my eldest daughter left for college. The pain was palpable. But I wrote through those growing pains.

Now, I no longer search for the muse; the muse is everywhere for this Mama.

The “Pop” Sensation

Then came 2023. I met “Pop” Jones when he was 106 years old and knew him for the last year of his life. This encounter changed me, giving my writing new depth and perspective.

My passion for a compelling muse grew even stronger, as did my desire to delve deep into every story – whether mine or someone else’s. Today, I can confidently say that while I still don’t know what I’ll be when I grow up, I’ve discovered a new formula for what makes something muse-worthy: re-writing life with an amusing twist. Want to join me?

Top 5 Reasons You Know You’re A Muser

1. You live to inspire and revive the good old days, merging the old with the new.
2. You enjoy exploring life to connect with others.
3. You believe life’s hardships only make you stronger.
4. You love hearing about legends of love, family, and community.
5. You strive to make conversations meaningful, taking us to charming places.

No matter how old our kids get, we mamas (and papas) always hold our families close to our hearts!

Bring On The Musers

Thankfully, this blog has united us – like-minded storytellers. We tell these stories to become torchbearers, helping others as we navigate through life’s highs and lows. We all need someone to muse with.

We are profound, provocative, motivating, inspirational, powerful in our own right, thought leaders, trailblazers, and brimming with love for humanity. All that love we have for our families must overflow somewhere.

Above all, we amuse one another.

Join me as we muse through life.

Love, Mama