My lover, my muse, my dearest poet
My boyfriend, the bane of my existence and the love of my life, is my muse. When we first started dating, he wrote poems about me, which I thought was the most romantic thing. I felt butterflies in my stomach every time he read me a poem he wrote about me. Now, whenever I feel I am experiencing a writer’s block, I call him up for a conversation.
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In a discussion we had about music preferences, we argued over whether a song was romantic, calming, or sad. My boyfriend claimed that one of my favorite love songs made him sad, while I found it to be romantic, beautiful and soothing. He told me that a lot of my music is melancholic, even if the words are positive. We have very similar music taste, but it seems like we appreciate the same songs for different reasons. This conversation inspired my piece, Are we losing touch with meaningful music?
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“Do you think you romanticize love?” my boyfriend once asked me. Navigating my first long-term serious relationship has made me consider what expectations have led me astray in romanticizing love, which encouraged me to write The media does not define love. We cannot rely entirely on the media to tell us what love is. We have to experience it on our own.
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My boyfriend inspired my piece, I'm better at writing than speaking, after telling me that I’m so skilled at writing that I am a better writer than speaker. He encouraged me to think deeply about why writing comes more naturally to me. I sat in my thoughts and recognized the patterns throughout my life that led to my skill in writing. I also wrote My love language as a letter to my boyfriend to explain what I may struggle to articulate with spoken words, as I am, in fact, better at writing than speaking.
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My boyfriend is the first person outside of my family who has seen me lose my temper. My recognition of my openness around him, my true vulnerability to let down the mask, inspired my piece, Who am I when I am not perceiving myself? I figured that exploring the root of my temper on paper and considering how I may learn to address and control it through my writing would help prepare me to apologize to my boyfriend and discuss what we can do as a couple when we have a heated argument.
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Conversations with my boyfriend are intellectually stimulating. We each think deeply and bring our thoughts to the table. Our discussions and intellectual debates are something that I cherish fondly. I feel I have finally found someone who can intentionally converse with me on a deeper level, challenge my previous ways of thinking and lead me to consider things I never have before. My boyfriend inspires me to write and create art, and in return, he reads every Substack piece and listens to every original song that I share with him.
I love my lover, my muse, my dearest poet.
Take me to the Lakes, where all the poets went to die
I don't belong and, my beloved, neither do you
Those Windermere peaks look like a perfect place to cry
I'm setting off, but not without my muse
No, not without you1
the lakes by Taylor Swift