Vanity / Ydelheid


“Mirrors are ices which do not melt: what melts are those who admire themselves in them.”
Paul Morand

Vanity refers to excessive pride in especially your own appearance. There are conflicting views with regard to this topic because some may consider vanity a motivator when it comes to healthy personal change, while others deem it to be a vice rather than a virtue. So, where do you stand? Varindra Tarzie Vittachi said that people may hide their vanity beneath a veneer of humility... but at odd moments that individual will need the assurance that somehow he/she is still one of the chosen ones. Maybe it is true that there are no grades of vanity, only grades of the ability to conceal your vanity. Some conceal it more than others… Another thing to think about is the view that vanity is the single quality that is shared by all great individuals. Even though vanity refers to “excessive pride”, in this sense it will refer to the ability to appreciate your own worth, and that without this kind of vanity you may never become as great as those great individuals. Here comes the “but”, because, all of that is okay, but with vanity alone, you are equally nothing. That is why we should constantly study our lives, making sure that we are not vain to the extent Enobarbus took it. In Shakespeare’s play Antony and Cleopatra, Enobarbus said that he will praise any man that will praise him. Maybe he didn’t understand the process of introspection so clearly, for it is not in looking at ourselves in mirrors, but in reflecting on our inner constitution, that we will learn how to be vain or not, in whatsoever measure.

You’re so vain,
you probably think this poem is about you;
BUT it’s NOT! So, here is what you need to do,
stop being too vain, by that, you will have much to gain.

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 “Spieëls is bloke ys wat nie smelt nie: wat wel smelt is diegene wie hulself daarin bewonder.”
Paul Morand

Ydelheid en spogsiekheid, daardie oordrewe mate van trots en verwondering op jouself en in jou voorkoms. Let wel, oordrewe… Daar is konflikterende sieninge oor verwaandheid en ydelheid. Sommiges beskou verwaandheid as ‘n motiveerder as dit kom by gesonde persoonlike verandering, terwyl andere dit sien as ‘n ondeug, eerder as ‘n deug. So, waar staan jy wat hierdie debat betref? Varindra Tarzie Vittachi is van mening dat mense hul spogsiekheid kan verberg onder ‘n skyn-lagie van nederigheid... maar op ongereelde tye sal daardie individu die versekering vereis dat hy/sy steeds een van die uitverkorenes is. Miskien is daar waarheid in die siening dat daar nie grade van oordrewe self-trots is nie, maar wel grade van kapasiteit om jou oordrewe self-trots weg te steek. Sommiges kan dit inderdaad beter wegsteek as andere… Iets anders om aan te dink, is die seining dat ydelheid die enkele “kwaliteit” is wat deur meeste van die groot name in die geskiedenis gedeel word. Selfs al verwys spogsiekheid en ydelheid na “oordrewe trots”, in hierdie verband sal dit verwys na die kapasiteit om jou eie waarde te waardeer, en dat jy nie sonder hierdie sin van eiewaarde, kan groot raak soos ander groot name nie. MAAR, met ‘n sin van eiewaarde alleen, is jy ook niks, daarom dat dit so belangrik is om gereeld jou eie lewe onder ‘n vergrootglas te sit. Sodoende kan jy net dalk verhoed om nie in die mate van selftrots te verval soos die waarin Enobarbus verval het nie. In Shakespeare se toneelspel Antony and Cleopatra, sê Enobarbus dat hy enige person sal prys wie hom prys… Miskien het hy nie so lekker die proses van daaglikse introspeksie verstaan nie, of dalk het hy te veel gefokus op homself. Hoe dit ookal sy, dit is nie in die kyk na onsself in spieëls wat verkeerd is nie, maar in die verloor van onsself daarin – soos Narcissus dit gedoen het. Daar is ook geen fout daarin om selftrots te hê nie, jy is immers uniek en ‘n mooi mens, maar streef hierdie selftrots na in gesonde mates.

Jy is so ydel,
jy dink seker hierdie versie is vir jou?
MAAR dit is NIE! So, sluk maar hierdie bitter pil…
en weet dat oordrewe selftrots jou menswees kan knou.

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