Since the new year of 2017, a lot of my friends have been actively navel-gazing, and so have I. It's a colloquial term for an introverted assessment of one's life and one's place within the universe.
There's two problems with introspection. One leads into a feedback loop of self-accusation, since you feel the need to be affirmed and the quickest affirmation is to do something wrong and know it. Another pitfall is to assume you've got enough information to do something positive when you really need to do more. You end up doing something rash, stupid, and regrettable.
So, navel-gazing is normally best kept a solo endeavor. The Internet is not the best place to share things that will last through the Information Age.
Yet lately, these friends of mine who are seeking answers are succeeding in finding them. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised: these are smart, sensitive people. Maybe maturity is finally catching up with us.
I am extremely proud of my friends right now. There's a lot of negativity in media, society, and the workplace. One path to inner balance is personal creativity. I've got friends who are blossoming in photography, music, writing and journalism, acting, and crafts. Art for art's sake!
I've been keeping JSVB going for this same reason. There's not really any money in it, but there is the humble satisfaction of getting the ideas in my head onto the computer screen via talent, skill, and blessings from above. I have decided to launch into a plan, something really simple and common, but an idea that I hope adds to joy and banishes anguish. I'll post about it when I get it all organized, which ought to be soon.
Today's sketchbook features a couple of human torsos with navels you may gaze at. I couldn't decide whether I should supply a female belly button or a male one, so I went with both.
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