6 More Updates (just 17 left to go!)

HEADS-UP! I’ve completed updating the links to my freebie icons and clip-art on six (6) more of my older posts. As previously mentioned (here) and (here), these updates may have some icons or clip-art that was not in the original post, so you might want to check them out. See below for a list of the latest updated posts with links to them.

MORE UPDATED POSTS

1. New Look Is Here! + Elegance Pt. 2
2. Elegance (Wow! deez icons got class!)
3. Halloween Folk-Art Avatars
4. Avatars March for Sylvan Rights
5. Who’s yer Avatar see in the mirror?
6. Something to Crow About

And for this very early morning day’s serving of freebie original images, I offer you Part 1 of my quirky, quickie new series entitled “Pink Jelly”. Enjoy!

Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day

The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered in the “Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day” section are free for your personal use, subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike- 3.0 license. (See sidebar for Terms of Use) For commercial or any other use, please contact me for directly.

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WHAT’S NEW ON ZAZZLE

Wm. Morris’ Window (Premium Magnet)
Class up the joint with this 4×6″ Flexible Refrigerator Magnet featuring YOUR uploaded photograph (or the grandkids, the hottie from next door, or…?) with IconDoIt’s wonderful new frame design (A delightful tromp l’oeil of a richly carved cherry wood window frame, gracefully draped swag curtain panel, all against one of William Morris’ intricate Arts & Crafts movement wallpapers.

Edwardian Photo Frame (Plaque)
Upload your own photo and personalize the inscription for a simply elegant, thoughtful, affordable gift that’ll be cherished for years to come. Your photo will be surrounded by IconDoIt’s original artwork inspired by an ornate, Edwardian-era (Art Nouveau) brass picture frame inherited from her Grandmother, Sara.

The Puzzling Tale – Tuxedo Puzzle w/Tin
What Fun! A 110-piece jigsaw puzzle featuring YOUR uploaded photograph (to replace IconDoIt’s with her favorite lamb), surrounded by IconDoIt’s original ‘Tuxedo Frame’ and personalized with the captions of your choice. All in a great storage tin with the completed image on top.

Does A Mirror Reflect The Truth?

Does a mirror tell the truth? I asked that question in a poem I wrote for my psychiatrist over 40 years ago. I hadn’t thought about it again in all these years until tonight, when it suddenly popped into my mind after having read several articles and forum posts about Malignant Narcissists. Interesting how the subconscious works, but I think that I now finally know the answer to the question. – “Maybe. It depends on who’s looking in it!”

According to the medical professionals having expertise in this area, the evil, ugly old witch who with all sincerity was able to look into the mirror and ask “Who is the fairest in all the land?”, fully believing the answer to be herself, was a classic model of malignant narcissism. The witch was the biggest dupe of all, falling for her very own cons, long after the rest of the kingdom had finally seen through her façade. The old bat was blind to the fact that people were no longer afraid of her ominous shrieking and cackle and no longer fooled by her self-serving lies.

Like all folk tales, fables, and legends, there is more than a grain of bare-knuckled reality in the fairy tales read to us as children. Life isn’t always pretty. People can be dangerous. The innocent often suffer the most and often, evil appears to be triumphant. While the malignant narcissists of this world see the witches and sorcerers and power-obsessed characters as role models for “how to get your way”, most of us grow up still believing in the power of goodness and that truth and honesty shall eventually prevail.

I firmly believe that the path we choose and the image we thus see in the mirror is a reflection of what is in our souls and not a reflection of the particular arrangement of skin and bones that form our physical faces. I realize that this may sound illogical or contradictory at first since you might assume that if my theory is true, then evil people would see ugliness in the mirror and then naturally realize everyone else sees it, too. But that’s not how it works. In the twisted ego of a malignant narcissist, they are in such denial of who they really are, they actually view themselves as the idealized person they believe they were born to be right out of the box. So why would you want to change perfection? By comparison, when the rest of us look in a mirror, we see a person with flaws who is still working to become the best she can be. To be clear, I am not trying to say that malignant narcissists all see themselves as physically beautiful when they gaze into a mirror. Rather, I’m using the mirror as a metaphor for how a person sees their whole self and imagines that this is the same image they present to the world and that the world sees. Because so many Malignant Narcissists [“MN’s”] are intellectually quite bright, it can take quite a while for other’s to recognize that MN’s are at the same time, emotionally shallow and socially obtuse. These deficiencies leave MN’s so ill-equipped that they are incapable of questioning their own beliefs, judgments, and actions. Consequently, Malignant Narcissists are completely blind to the red flags that their attitudes and behaviour raises in the objective minds of those around them. In contrast, people with a healthy soul are always re-examining themselves from the inside out and making adjustments, as that is the only way one can learn from their mistakes and have a chance at becoming a better and more effective person.

After much research, analysis and reflection on this subject, I’ve come to realize that Malignant Narcissists simply cannot see behind their own masks. I have also realized the necessity of revising my short-hand description of myself from “What you see is what you get” (meaning I’m not into playing mind games and have no hidden agendas) to what I think may be more accurately put as: “What I see is what you get.” Does that make sense to you?

Free Clip-Art / Icons of the Day

The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered on this blog are free for your personal use while subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives – Share Alike- 3.0 license. (See sidebar for details)

Can Art & Poetry Serve A Purpose Without the Story Behind It?

When I was a young teen, I always kept a small spiral notebook and several Bic pens close at hand in the event I should get the urge to dash off some prose. Society was different back then. It was before “After School Specials” and was when the Victorian-Era attitude that “Children should be seen and not heard” was still pretty much the norm. Anyone who knew me back then would probably tell you I was this happy-go-lucky kid, always ready with a smile and some absurd observation geared to make people laugh and forget their woes. Very few, if any, had a clue what was really going on in my mind and my life. Of course, the same thing was likely true for the other kids at the schools I attended. It’s just the way things were back then. But keeping up the façade of “all is right with the world” was at times an unbearable burden and that’s where my poetry came in

Writing prose was a life-saving outlet back then in the same way that visual art serves me today. It allowed me to vent, to dream, to cry, to wonder, to argue and even to pretend. Early on, I discovered that I had the natural ability to assume the literary voice of any character I read about in a book, saw in a movie, or dreamed up from scratch and write about their feelings as if they were my own. It was really no different than what most authors and actors do, but because I recorded these creative ramblings in a book that had the word “Diary” on it’s cover, anyone who picked it up to read assumed it was all about me. Of course, I hadn’t intended for anyone else to read it but it happened nonetheless, each time causing great suspicion and worry or ruffled feathers or outrage on the part of the unauthorized reader(s). Had they only asked me what the poems were about or what inspired them rather than jumping to erroneous conclusions, a lot of grief could have been avoided. But, as I was still considered a “child” then, it never occurred to my elders that I could possibly have something intelligent to say or that my feelings mattered.

Thank God our society (for the most part) has finally woken up to recognize not only that children DO have opinions and feelings and that they deserve the respect to be heard, but also, most people today realize the importance of being able to share their feelings with others. As a society, we’ve still got work to do in learning how to listen to each other but it is getting better, one individual at a time. And as long as we’re moving forward in the right direction, regardless of how slowly, there is hope.

For tonight’s Freebies, along with a few empty frames for you to fill with your own content, I’ve mixed together a couple of my shorter prose, written when I was teenager with decorative backgrounds I created close to half a century later. These poems served their purpose for me at the time they were written and so now I hope they can serve some purpose for you. It really doesn’t matter any more what or who I was actually thinking about so feel free to interpret them in whatever way you choose.

Free Icons and Clip-Art of the Day

The following images are either full or reduced size previews. Simply right-click (or control-click) on the preview to save the image(s) of your choice to your desktop. (Unless otherwise noted, downloads are 512px X 512px in .png format). As always, usage of any of the images offered on this blog are free for your personal use while subject to the limitations of my Creative Commons Non-Commercial – Attribution – No Derivatives 3.0 license. (See sidebar for details)

“Children Play Games” – 1973 by Leslie Sigal Javorek – (600 x 309px)

“Art Nouveau Style Frames” – Download size: (600 x 763px)

“Listen” – 1973 by Leslie Sigal Javorek – (600 x 763px)

“Book Opening” (600 x 595px)