VAIN...

Vain - /van/

Adjective

1.      Having or showing an excessively high opinion of one’s appearance, abilities or worth.

2.      Producing no result; useless.

When I think vain, I think “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. Both the classic tale of a king so obsessed with his looks they let him walk around nude just so that he could keep thinking he was the best. Also the Disney cartoon with Kuzco, who is vanity itself but in a funny way. Everyone is vain these days, so vain that it is okay to be “Team We Like Things”. Self-love is trending these days, whether people feel it or not they have to show it with posts and accumulation of things. People are working out to achieve body goals, buying things they don’t even like just because they are in fashion and being people they can’t even recognize. Vanity is in fashion. Let me not even exempt myself, I too have done all of it, hashtag abuse, food posting and self-love declaring posts, but now I am little ashamed because I don’t know what the show was for. Food gets cold out there because people are trying to capture it and filter it before they post it and eat it. Instagram is the step before people eat, not saying grace.

I was chatting with my friend last night and I told them that the most amusing thing my father did before he died was that he brushed his teeth. I called it vanity. But after talking about it I realised that it was more than that. My father had beaten cancer before, he had pursued every one of his desires and made all things possible. Then in the last year of his life he changed. He became less abrasive and in a hurry to make things happen. He started going to church and he gave his life to God. He spent the last day of his life with his wife, praying and reading the bible and taking naps. Then fifteen minutes before he died he got up, with the very last of his energy and brushed his teeth, carefully he examined each tooth and scrubbed then he rinsed and got into bed. He took his last three breaths just after. I thought it was vain that he spent his last minutes brushing his teeth but now I don’t.

You see life isn’t built in one day. It is the things we do every day that finally matter in the end. If I asked what anyone would spend their last 15 minutes on, others say sleeping, others say praying, others would call all their loved ones, others would make peace with their enemies. But why wait for the last 15 minutes to get things right. Why not make sure people know you and know that you love them every day. Why not give your life to God today? Why not make peace today?

I’m not saying everyone should be religious. I am saying everyone should believe in more. My father brushed his teeth because he had done everything that needed to be done through his life, I knew he loved me even if we hadn’t spoken in almost a week, his enemies stayed forgiven, he left all his work done. The man had run his race. We all want to be remembered positively, that’s why we only present our best self to others. But do you really need to fake for yourself? I think that is hell itself, living a false life where you can’t even be broken and honest around yourself. Busy fixing bullet holes with band aids.

Nobody can fill the void, nothing can fill it. I love Steve Madden and Micheal Kors shoes because I like that sturdy design thing. But even if they both gave me their businesses today and a factory of shoes I’d still want more. The poison is within. This intense love for things that don’t matter was inherited from our forefathers and runs forcefully in our veins. We are lovers of our chains. Worshipping the very things that hold us back.

The most valuable question Beyonce asked all year is are you happy with yourself? Are you happy with yourself? When the masquerade has ended, are you happy with who remains?