<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Internet Diarist (A Blog)]]></title><description><![CDATA[bleeding heart and artist / multidisciplinary creative]]></description><link>https://diarist.blog</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RRYn!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F85066fd5-0423-46d0-93c0-f1372bc3d004_600x600.png</url><title>Internet Diarist (A Blog)</title><link>https://diarist.blog</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Thu, 05 Nov 2026 09:16:36 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://diarist.blog/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Jack Cariad Leon]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[diarist@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[diarist@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Jack Cariad Leon]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Jack Cariad Leon]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[diarist@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[diarist@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Jack Cariad Leon]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[On Modern Muses]]></title><description><![CDATA[originally published in The Narcissus Literary Review on June 6, 2025.]]></description><link>https://diarist.blog/p/on-modern-muses</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://diarist.blog/p/on-modern-muses</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Jack Cariad Leon]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 20 Sep 2026 10:50:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Aeom!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b62f1c3-d9e5-4e11-a26e-5f7e40650fca_2048x1365.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Aeom!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b62f1c3-d9e5-4e11-a26e-5f7e40650fca_2048x1365.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Aeom!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b62f1c3-d9e5-4e11-a26e-5f7e40650fca_2048x1365.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Aeom!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b62f1c3-d9e5-4e11-a26e-5f7e40650fca_2048x1365.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Aeom!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b62f1c3-d9e5-4e11-a26e-5f7e40650fca_2048x1365.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Aeom!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b62f1c3-d9e5-4e11-a26e-5f7e40650fca_2048x1365.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Aeom!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4b62f1c3-d9e5-4e11-a26e-5f7e40650fca_2048x1365.jpeg" width="1456" height="970" 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class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image buttonBase-GK1x3M"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="icon-noB79L"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image buttonBase-GK1x3M"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2 icon-noB79L"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>One thing that I enjoy thinking about and find particularly interesting about art and artists these days is how often - usually female - artists seem to inspire a myriad of other artists. Often these female muses are contemporary musicians of some kind. Bj&#246;rk, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, more recently Chappell Roan.</p><p>Taylor Swift has sold out stadiums, night after night, putting on three-hour shows each time. The love for her was so widespread she even felt she had to take down much of the fan art of her likeness being sold on Etsy, in a probable attempt to protect her brand in a move I don&#8217;t <em>exactly</em> agree with.</p><p>Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p><p>Kurt Cobain and Robert Smith are two examples of men who have, and will most likely continue to have, enduring legacies because of the music they created. Depending on how far back we want to go, there&#8217;s also Elvis and David Bowie, who are household names. You probably have your own examples in mind.</p><p>I think of it as a fun kind of phenomena.</p><p>One artist who comes to mind in particular is Florence Welch, frontwoman of band Florence and the Machine. I&#8217;m of course biased, as we all are, by my own tastes, and my admiration for her. But I&#8217;ve seen many times people cite Florence as inspiration or a muse in general. The creative director of Gucci at the time, Alessandro Michele, may have been one of the first to proudly label Florence a muse of his.</p><p>Her cult-classic debut album, which is often described as a scrapbook of things that happened to her, Florence quickly rose to fame with early attempts at songwriting posted to Youtube and Myspace. Florence&#8217;s <em>Stevie Knicks</em>-esque style of dress, fiercely individual lyrics and themes, witch-like aesthetics and motifs and general grace and kindness, inspires and speaks to other creatives quite often it seems.</p><p>I have always bought into the idea that no art is created in a vacuum. That everything comes from something and that there&#8217;s a long line of &#8216;something&#8217; everywhere you might look. I think the bottom line is that it&#8217;s nice that these beliefs that I&#8217;ve held are starting to become more readily apparent.</p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>