The Courageous Leap Towards Happiness

SK, a graphic designer,  drew this doodle in early February, 2009 during a staff meeting.  As mentioned in the doodle blog, her company was beginning to succumb to this crazy "Re-Depression" economy and was showing signs of struggle. 

At first, this doodle is pretty funny knowing it was drawn during a dull staff meeting.  But if you look at it a little longer and know the situation, there is a sense of loneliness...a hopefulness that something alive and more exciting is out there--if SK has the courage to take the leap.

SK probably naively entered the staff meeting bright and ready to fill the list under her "Task" heading. But as the meeting drained on, perhaps she began to realize there would be nothing to add to her to-do list and started doodling out her concerns.  Or maybe the doodle was her task (think about THAT for a second!)

Did she feel like she was standing on the edge of the pirate's plank?  Was the looming chess-piece expressing her solitude while she contemplated her next position, or does it embody the troubled company as pushing her lonely little figure towards the edge? 

The cool thing is that there is a beautiful, exciting universe beyond the edge of the plank, and if SK has the courage to take the leap, it'll be hers (and she did have the courage, FYI):

 (Click to Enlarge)The Courageous Leap Towards Happiness

I know, I know, I'm obviously ignoring the face with the red heart around it!  Why?  Because it's clearly a drawing, not a doodle.  The sad, resigned face in the lower left probably is part of the doodle, however.  I'm not sure if those are side-burns or if our man is sweating bullets--either way, he fits into my plot quite  well. 

Maybe SK will comment and let us know what was on her mind while drawing this? Maybe it had nothing to do with work and is all about the man framed by the red heart!