by Janet

Optimism

I thought I’d piggyback on my previous post (Naivety) so that I could bring some positivity back to the game. When I talked about naivety, I wasn’t expressing my beliefs (I don’t walk around angry) – I was simply pondering the word, it’s meaning, and what the word means to me.

That being said, it went a wee bit against my grain, which is normally optimistic. I actually think that naivety and optimism may have a few things in common, so this was the perfect “O” word for tonight.

Naivety appears to be the belief that people or things are good (or safe) – because the naïve individual is not aware that anything contrary to “good” exists. They lack experience.

Optimism, on the other hand, may be it’s more experienced counterpart. An optimist knows that bad exists, but he or she still believes that everything is (or will be) good. They believe this ‘in spite’ of the knowledge that bad things (or people) exist – not because they don’t have a clue. That’s where discernment comes in.

The definitions I found for optimism are “hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something,” and “the tendency to be hopeful and to emphasize or think of the good part in a situation rather than the bad part.”

So… it’s pretty clear that optimism is not naivety. It’s about being deliberate. I’m pretty sure no one ‘chooses’ to be naïve – it’s like something we’re born with… something that escapes us as we learn about the world. But optimism appears to be a choice.

Anyway, I did an illustration for my thoughts on Optimism and I think it’s… OK. (I wish I could be more optimistic about it!) It’s not what I saw in my head but it will have to do. Perhaps if the girl were smiling it might be more convincing. Haha!

Speaking of things not looking like what we imagined… I went to my first painting class last night. Don’t ask me how, but I ended up with a canvas that was covered in lime green. Sopping wet with way too much paint. Every time I painted something I didn’t like I just brushed over the whole canvas and blended the colors together. So I painted A LOT.

I realized, while in bed, that what happened was the result of using a large brush. Of course you can’t paint details with a big brush… what was I thinking?! I’m used to my keyboard and mouse… not brushes! I’ve been… well… very naïve when it comes to painting! Now I know that bad painting exists (haha!), so I’m looking forward to trying again next week.

I’m making my way through the Alphabet Game a lot quicker than I’d intended because it’s giving me time to think before I go back to telling stories. I need to ponder more ideas on that end… and I’ll talk about it more when I write about the “P” word… (SPOILER ALERT!!)

………… Plot.

That’s about all for now. Thank you for reading or viewing, I hope you enjoyed something here!

I’ll see you soon!

by Janet

Naivety

When I think about the “N” word, Naivety, I get a little pissed off. In my young adulthood (which lasted well into my ‘old’ adulthood), I would always get embarrassed when I thought about the times that I’d been naïve.

I’m pretty sure there have been MANY of those times, because my naivety existed longer than a lot of people my age – even though I did a pretty fair job at pretending (or actually believing) that I knew it all.

My illustration depicts – spot on – what naivety looks and feels like to me. Maybe another word for it is blind faith. Sitting in the middle of the lion’s mouth (or whatever beast that is) and believing that it’s a safe place. Believing that people are… “good.” When I say it like that, I actually sound kind of cynical, but then again – doesn’t that make sense? Because isn’t naivety sort of the opposite of cynical?

The definitions I found of naivety were: “lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement,” and “innocence or unsophistication.” So… when you’re naïve, you lack discernment. You walk right into trouble, or danger, because you lack experience and wisdom, and you have this naïve belief that everyone (or everything) is… “good.”

Cynical, on the other hand, is “believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest” and “distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.” Couldn’t you say that people become cynical because too many assholes took advantage of their naivety!?

That’s why I get mad. Naivety gets a bad rap. But when you think about it… it’s actually no different than the innocence of a child. Something that many people strive for, because with that comes real joy and creativity.

So… I think the lesson I’ve found in my thoughts tonight is that naivety is not something to be embarrassed about. If anyone should be embarrassed, it is the lions (or the beasts) who took it away.

That’s my two cents anyway.

Thank you for reading!

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts, or my illustration, and I’ll see you again soon for the letter “O.”

Peace & Love!

by Janet

Muse in the Mirror

After scrapping another episode of barbershop tales… I did a little imagery tonight and came up with the word Muse for the letter “M.”

I’ve never really put much thought into the word, so I looked it up to see what the Internet had to say. Below are some of the definitions that I found:

As a noun, a muse is a person – especially a woman – who is a source of artistic inspiration. Another noun definition is “a person, or an imaginary being or force that gives someone ideas and helps them to write, paint, or make music.”

As a verb, to muse is to consider something thoughtfully or to become absorbed in thought. Another verb definition is “to have deep thoughts or to meditate.”

That’s a really cool word!

I wanted to try out some new techniques with imagery and I ended up with this colorful female. Honestly, it started out as a woman who was facing her shadow, but my inner child whispered in my ear… telling me that it looked as though she was touching her shadow’s hoo-hoo. (Sorry! It’s hard to unsee once you see it!)

So, I decided that it wasn’t a shadow at all – she was looking at her empty reflection in the mirror. That solved the hoo-hoo problem and gave me all sorts of things to think about.

It actually got me thinking about beauty, and how we see ourselves – and even others. I’ll tell you one thing… When I sit down to illustrate a woman, my intentions are always to make her look as beautiful as possible. Curvy. Slim. Nice lips. Bright eyes.

I’ll tell you something else. I may be my muse (on occasion) when I am writing – but when I illustrate a woman… I am never my muse. Unless it’s a self-portrait obviously.

It’s hard as you age! So, when I look in the mirror, or see myself in a Zoom class, I end up getting mad at society as if it’s society’s fault that I’m not happy with my appearance. I’m not photogenic to begin with, and now I’m older, heavier, grayer… and… (you get the drift).

I started to wonder… At what age does the acknowledgement of beauty, or the lack thereof, actually start? I mean, how do we know where the bar is when we’re a child? Is it instinctual or something learned? And why do we carry that bar with us our entire life?

To get myself off of that negative path I decided that I see these things because that is what I’m looking for or expecting. Like a big red pimple on the tip of your nose… the morning of Senior Photo day. It always happens like that! Probably because of the stress we put on our body when we worry all night about it happening!

Anyway, I could go on and on, but why be a downer?! I wanted to find a lesson in the muck of my thoughts, and the lesson I found was that I have to believe better. I need to look in that mirror and stop seeing the enemy.

I need to face that mirror, look into my muse’s eyes, and I need to tell her “my darling… you look wonderful tonight.”

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

Audrey Hepburn

That’s about all for now.

Thank you so much for reading or viewing… I hope you enjoyed!

I’ll see you soon for the letter “N.”

-Janet