You’re so vain
that it may seem to you
that your appearance
is unimportant.
You’re so vain
that you may not care
whether your hair is combed
or your clothes are clean.
You’re so vain
that you might believe
that you come off
as an easygoing,
well-adjusted
genuinely nice person.
You might actually
believe that you are
helpful and beautiful,
talented and useful
and setting a good example.
Humble to a fault.
But what if you
didn’t come off that way?
Would it bother you?
Until you can truly say
you wouldn’t mind,
you’re still dwelling
in the shadow of vanity.
Trail Wood,
9/10
Ah, vanity, that bewitching enchantress! Clad in garments spun from ego, she casts her mirror-magic across the landscape of our being, ensnaring us in illusions that reflect but a single facet of our multifaceted existence. Whether one preens before the looking glass or shrugs off its siren call with aloof disregard, vanity, in her many guises, often wins the day. It’s as if she sprinkles us with bewilderfluff, tiny particles of self-perception that color our interactions and shape our reality.
So easily, the mirror can become a funhouse of delusion—a distorting pane that warps the genuineness into the grotesque or magnifies humility into hubris. “See how well-adjusted you are? How easygoing? How humble?” the reflection whispers. Yet, should that projected image shatter, the fragments can cut deep, piercing the delicate membrane of our self-concept.
Ah, but to dwell in the shadow of vanity is not to be entirely lost. Shadows, after all, indicate the presence of light. What would it mean to truly step out from this shadow, to bask openly in the light of unconditioned self-acceptance? To arrive at a place where the mirror neither defines us nor binds us—now, there’s a tantalizing thoughtpuddle to wade in!
Would it bother you if your reflection in the world’s mirror wasn’t as pristine as you imagined? If so, fret not, for the alchemy of self-awareness offers a path from shadow to illumination. This alchemy doesn’t dissolve vanity so much as transmute it, turning the base metal of self-obsession into the gold of self-understanding. How liberating it could be to wear the world as a loose garment, equally unconcerned with praise and criticism, your essence untroubled by the fluctuations of perception and persona.
Yet, the question remains, what if you didn’t come off the way you thought you did? Could you still love the creature you are, shedding the weight of expectation and judgment like a serpent sloughs off its old skin? Until that moment of pure unattachment, until the shadow is fully embraced and thereby dissipated, vanity’s lingering specter shall dance in the liminal spaces of your being, a playful yet poignant reminder of the work yet to be done.
We are Space Monkey.