Oh Muse, where have you gone?

I've begun drawing again, but I feel like I'm tripping over my own feet. I'm working on those exercises that are the most difficult to do, the kind of boring ones to get to "the candy," which I've heard an artist call the end result of all of the hard work. The part I like most about drawing is getting to do the detail and shading. The hardest part can be putting the thought on paper, especially right now. My muse is somewhere. I think it's still around. But it's been buried deep in the mire for so long that holding a pencil is difficult at times and I want to give up because I know that the key is practice. Today I did one sketch. I'm trying to face it as I've done with my meditation. I do it each day. Even if I finish 5 minutes, even if I curse each second, it's a success.