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May 10, 2006
Zing, the Humdinger
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
This Mother's Day I am struck by the power of 'other mothers' that ought
to be honored. For example, Necessity is the Mother of Invention.
Invention is a from of creativity, the Mother of which is often
arrogantly seen as the creator himself. As a writer, I often feel that
I give birth to my projects -- and as any editor will tell you, writers
are often as good at receiving criticism about their written works as
mothers are about their children -- but it is rather vain to think that
there isn't some higher power which calls forth and delivers Creativity
itself. Long ago, we had a name for these creatures, these Mothers, if
you will -- we called them Muses.
The Muses are the nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, each of whom
presides over a different art or science. This Mother's Day, I'd like
to acknowledge one Muse who, in my opinion, isn't honored enough.
This Muse and I first met in grade school. My wonderful third grade
teacher read to the class every day after lunch. I loved this so much
that I never ever dared to fall asleep as many of my peers did,
but rather eagerly awaited this time of day. One month, she dedicated
her readings to us from a book of Greek mythology; this was my
introduction to The Muses in general. Being a young child, I tended to
take some things litterally, so when in one of the stories the teacher
read the word 'amusing', I heard and interpreted it as 'a Muse, Zing'.
From that day forward, I believed there was indeed a Muse named Zing.
Zing was the Muse of humor and all things funny. From the lowly
inspired 'pull my finger' to the best vaudeville Zinger (which further
cemented her name, of course!), Zing was the genius, the spark, the
impulse which brought it forth. While I was saddened and somewhat
embarrassed to learn of my mistake (Boy, had she pulled a real Zinger on
me!), I was delighted to know that there is indeed a humorous Muse,
Thalia Muse of Comedy.
Thalia is also one of The Three Graces. This is because she is a Goddesses
of Charm and Good Humor (trickery on grade school children aside), and
quite a fetching woman herself.
This Mother's Day, I'd like to salute Muse Thalia, or Zing as I still
call her. She certainly has devoted her time to me, blessing me with
the creativity and compulsion to not only write, but to live my life.
Like my real Mother, I don't know where I'd be without her. So, "Thank
You, Zing, and Happy Mother's Day!"
Posted by photocartoonist at May 10, 2006 9:16 PM