When I speak about vanity, I’m not referring to the actual definition of the word; I’m speaking about it as a concept. We care about what we look like. I don’t necessarily mean that we all care whether our hair is glossy, or about what we wear; but most people care about how the rest of the world perceives them. If we are broken inside, we care about being seen as complete; because maybe if we convince the spectators, we will also convince ourselves.

We all see the girls strutting down the street in tight-fitting dresses and 6-inch heels, their life is consumed by the need to be envied, they need people to want to be them- they want people to see that they are pretty, they want people to hurt because they can’t have what they do. This is vanity, but it’s also mixed with egotistical mindsets and materialistic values. These girls care about what people see when they walk by, but that’s because they know exactly what will be seen; and they like it.

I don’t think this is what vanity truly means.

The people we usually don’t notice are the ones who hide inside themselves. These people are scared to be seen as who they really are, because they are afraid that who they are isn’t good enough. They are afraid that they will be ridiculed. You might call these people weak, you might say they need to be tougher- and it’s because of these misconceptions that nobody ever sees how hard they are really trying. They want to be able to be accepted for who they are, but they don’t think this is enough, so they hide away; or worse- they change themselves to fit in.

I think this is the real vanity, caring so completely about what people think of you, but not knowing how to make them think the right things. Not just caring about what people might see on the outside, but about what they might see on the inside too.

Sometimes it can feel like every situation is just another stage, where we must put on a show and hope that we are accepted. Even the most confident among us, are vain somewhere inside. Because if you tell everyone you don’t care what anybody thinks, you want them to see you to be confident, nonchalant and indestructible; you are creating the image you want people to see, directing the film so that the audience observes it correctly. This is still vanity.

So I don’t think we should try to eradicate our vanity, I think that we should just try not to let it keep us hidden away.