Vanitas

Well, here I am at the letter V. A proud letter, a sign of victory, a sign of peace, the beginning of my name...... and since it is summer I have "Vacation" on my mind but that's not till next month. And I would have written sooner but I got a new toy, a handy new sewing machine, and I have been playing with it, discovering its little secrets, its bells and whistles, its unique sounds and rhythms, getting to know it like my new friend. But I digress.....the one word that kept coming into my head this past week was Vanity. (I've obviously been watching too many posturing politicians, preening celebrities, and big business tax dodgers on the news). We all have a bit of it, even if we haven't shaved our legs in three months and have just devoured a pint of Ben and Jerry's New York Chocolate Fudge Chunk ice cream. A little vanity is good. It keeps us looking presentable in the grocery store in case we run into someone we know from Facebook, who remembers what we looked like 15 years ago. It keeps us brushing our teeth and combing our hair and wanting to be thought well of by others, even if we say we don't care what other people think, because most of us do, or we'd be picking our noses in public and skipping baths on a regular basis. Most of us respond to praise, even awkwardly, in a positive way, and most of us are wounded when we hear someone say something unkind. So a bit of vanity keeps us confident, keeps us young at heart, keeps our egos healthy, and our fingernails clean. Too much vanity and we are on that slippery slope to narcissism and bad plastic surgery decisions.
The word vanity comes from the Latin, Vanitas, meaning "emptiness". In the 16th and 17th century there was a trend in Northern Europe to create Vanitas paintings. These were usually symbolic still lifes depicting the transitory nature of existence, and the cheerful reminder that all ends in death and decay. Since life was a great deal shorter back then, less comfortable, more dangerous, subject to wars and plagues and general, wide-spread poverty and frequent famines, the proximity of imminent death was a given. In our modern, comfortable First World societies we tend to shy away from these ominous reminders. Advertizing appeals to our vanity on a daily basis, offering to cheat wrinkles and death with creams and lotions, with diets and vitamins, with pharmaceuticals and surgery. Ka-ching $$$$$. Sorry, but most of it is futile. Age will happen, anyway.
 The best way to stay young? Have a purpose, have a passion, stay involved, keep your brain busy, keep MOVING, be kind and get over your anger and resentments. Oh and brush your teeth. Be vain about that smile.