On Having a Navel and the Inclination to Consider It . . .

Four Greek statues depicting Omphaloskepsis or navel-gazing (as in, the contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation.

As authors, we toss our words out into the virtual ether of the internet, never knowing what's going to peak someone's interest or strike a chord. Feedback, when it comes, feels miraculous and affirming. Even when it's combative or less than complimentary, it's proof of existence, connection.

Like so many writers, I write to be read. To share what it is to have lived in particular times and places. Through the process of getting stuff down on the page, reflecting, finding meaning, perspective, perhaps even understanding, then sharing, I find the ways in which my experience connects with others.

Which sounds egocentric, self-absorbed, and any number of arguably pejorative adjectives. 

Yet what else is this business of living and writing about living all about? Having a navel (and all that's attached to said navel) and the ability to contemplate it and ask the big questions. Why am I/we here? Is this all there is? Why do I even ask that? How dare I? Am I living the dream? What dream? Whose dream? If not now, when?

Here are some words I sent out into the world months ago. They have found their virtual homes, or at least web addresses where they can now be clicked and stumbled upon or even searched for! Which, for someone like me, who always dreamed of reading, writing and being read, is kind of a big deal.

Many thanks to Brevity online, Editor Dinty W Moore and Social Media Editor Allison Williams; Mothers Always Write and Editor-in-Chief and founder Julianne Palumbo; and, Feminine Roadmap Podcast and host and creator Gina R Farrar.

---

"For some, writing is a solitary act, best done in the privacy of a room with a door. Others lack that luxury and find their muse on a favorite couch corner or in a coffee shop. You may require utter silence or prefer the murmur of voices, music and the hiss of espresso machines."  from "With A Little Help From My Friends", the Brevity Blog, October 29, 2019 . . . read the rest, here . . . 

---

"You study the models in the photographs on pattern 6702 and picture your eldest daughter sashaying through Central Park in a slinky jumpsuit. It looks complicated, yet the small print promises otherwise, in four languages--leicht, facile, easy, facial." from "Conquering the Jumpsuit", Mothers Always Write, October 21, 2019 . . . read the rest, here . . . 

---

Today on Feminine Roadmap Gina and her guest, Dorothy Rice, author of “Gray is the New Black” talk about accepting who you are in midlife and living with joy where you are at. It’s high time we learn to quit asking the questions about being thin enough, smart enough, pretty enough, whatever it is we struggle with and recognize that there is an army of voices from our past that keep us locked in bondage- it is time to call them out, let them go and forgive ourselves for those things we cannot change. 

Listen to the full Podcast here (Feminine Roadmap, Episode 109)

---