Inspiration and Encouragement

I feel empty today. Empty of ideas, empty of energy. I got a lot done yesterday, and felt at least moderately accomplished, yet today I cannot get out from under the lead-lined blanket that's draped over me.

It's days like these I tend to give up on posting in this blog. The cat on the desktop wallpaper looks up toward me and says, "Hey, where's the writing post? Make with the insightful witty commentary already, s'il vous plait." Standing beside the Buddha statue he has an almost foreign elegance my own cat lacks. All my cat seems to know to say is, "FEED ME! FEED ME NOW!" Which is not so much inspiring or intriguing as it is loud and brash.

But today I find myself telling the cat on the wallpaper, "Sorry, dude (or dudette -- I don't actually know what gender it is, but in my mind it's a guy cat), I'm runnin' on empty this morning." Yet he still stands there looking up toward me. Patient but expectant. Calm and waiting.

Though he's only an image on my computer, sometimes he feels like a companion, a patient Muse counterpart, silently encouraging me. Do you have someone or something that serves this purpose?