Celebrating profound connections with pop culture muses

As I work to end my creative drought, I’ve been thinking a lot about what inspires me to create.

I went to a concert this past July — Joey McIntyre at District 142 in Wyandotte — and the fact is, the energy of that show relit a creative fire in me that is still burning all these months later.

Joey McIntyre

District 142
Wyandotte, MI
July 17th, 2023

I don’t remember precisely what he said — something about not giving up on your dreams — but in that moment, instead of feeling inspired, what I felt was a wave of sadness at all the dreams that I let die. The spell of denial was broken and I felt that sense of mourning so deeply.

And then, as if by magic, I felt determined. Creative ideas flooded my brain. All the maybes and half-baked projects suddenly didn’t seem impossible to flesh out and complete. Standing in the middle of the main floor at this concert, dancing and completely enthralled by the music, I instantaneously remembered WHO THE FUCK I AM.

I don’t mean that in an egotistic way. Ignore the “Poet Iconic” title, it’s not that serious. 😂 But Joe’s words helped me remember that I am a creative person who has just as much right as anybody else to make my art and share it, to express myself, to embody my creativity and live in it. He’s been doing it for all these years. Nobody is gatekeeping that energy — it’s there for all of us to partake in.

Our half-baked dreams were born for a reason

If you’re like me, you feel an itch to create when you watch your favorite artists in their element. This can be a stage performer or even a vlogger on YouTube or an influencer on Instagram. You consume content daily, and your daily essentials that you never miss are the ones who are feeding you creatively in some way. You return to that content day after day for a reason that only you can know.

I feel that itch to create when I watch my favorite vloggers on YouTube, LaToya Forever and Brooklyn and Bailey. That instinct to emulate them, to film vlogs, write blogs, and be active on social media was put in my brain for a reason by a higher power. Indulging that passion just may be the roadmap to finding the larger audience for my books, and that’s true for you too.

It’s not about “success” or money or the dreaded F word, fame. It’s about shutting off the automaton that just works for everybody else. It’s about actually feeding and tending to the artist who is still very much alive inside.

Your pop culture muse is more than just entertainment

In my book, Poet Iconic, Vol. 1, I wrote in the introduction about how pop culture has shaped my artistry, and how I don’t find that frivolous, that there’s meaning within all that popular content and that we connect with it for important reasons. So let’s talk about that for just a moment.

There are people who push the idea that our pop culture muses are just silly entertainment with no real value. I beg to differ. We never know which artists will spark something inside of us. Does it really matter whether it’s an underground indie artist or a mainstream pop artist? And do we really need to feel hesitant to talk about that inspiration if it’s the latter?

When someone’s art hits the mainstream to the point that it’s referred to as pop, there’s always backlash. Two of my favorites, Michael Jackson and New Kids on the Block, certainly faced that in myriad ways. In the poetry world, the obvious example of this is Rupi Kaur, who seems to be made fun of and/or parodied more than she is celebrated. But you don’t get that big without having a really big talent behind it. Ideas must be beautifully simple in order to connect with the masses. None of the aforementioned artists deserve the dirt that’s flung at them on a daily basis, and their listeners or readers don’t either.

I want to elaborate on this in a later blog post, but my point here is that even if your pop culture muses are belittled by your peers, if there’s an artist that you love and that lights your soul on fire, as an artist, you owe it to yourself to bask in that energy as much as you can.

Drink up and end your creative drought

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Creative rejuvenation — the journey back to writing, in these past few years of creative drought, I have actively avoided listening to music, watching movies, and reading books because indulging in those delicious pursuits would inspire me to go down creative trails that I didn’t have the time to follow. I have wasted so much time not following those platinum threads of inspiration. How sad.

We’ve all got our looming deadlines at work, family members to take care of, and all the mundane daily to-do list items that nag at our attention… But if you’re an artist, it’s essential to stop the noise just long enough to connect with your muses as often as you can.

Maybe you love writing while you binge that reality show that everybody else hates. Maybe you jot down ideas while listening to your favorite artist on whichever streaming platform you subscribe to. Maybe going to the theater is what lights you up.

Whatever your muse may be, you’ve got to indulge it. Life is too short to only feed the “day job” version of you and let your passionate artist self wither away.

I’ve got so much more to say on this topic but I’ll save it for another night.

Enough about me. Who inspires you?

Turning this over to you, how do you feel about your own pop culture muses? Which of your favorite bands or solo artists are coming to town that you could (and should!) buy a ticket to right now? Let me know in the comments, and do drop a link to any creative works of yours that are inspired by your favorite pop artists.

Until next time, stay inspired!