Carpe Diem #120, Vanity (one of the seven sins)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Awesome isn't it? This daily haiku meme looks like to become a hit and I am pleased with that. I have read wonderful haiku on 'Stork' and 'Windmill' and today I love to start a few days on the seven sins starting with Vanity (Vainglory) and the next two days we will have 'Greed' and 'Jealousy'. I hope to read wonderful haiku on these sins.

 

Vanity needs a mirror


In conventional parlance, vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others (Stephen LaMarche). Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant futility. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic synonym for vanity, but originally meant boasting in vain, i.e. unjustified boasting; although glory is now seen as having an exclusively positive meaning, the Latin term gloria (from which it derives) roughly means boasting, and was often used as a negative criticism.
In many religions vanity, in its modern sense, is considered a form of self-idolatry, in which one rejects God for the sake of one's own image, and thereby becomes divorced from the graces of God. The stories of Lucifer, Narcissus (who gave us the term narcissism) and others attend to a pernicious aspect of vanity. Philosophically speaking, vanity may refer to a broader sense of egoism and pride. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that "vanity is the fear of appearing original: it is thus a lack of pride, but not necessarily a lack of originality."One of Mason Cooley's aphorisms is "Vanity well fed is benevolent. Vanity hungry is spiteful."
In Christian teachings vanity is considered an example of pride, one of the seven deadly sins. This list evolved from an earlier list of eight sins, which included vainglory as a sin independent of pride.
In Orthodox church, vanity is one of eight sinful and diabolical passions, the fight against which is a major task of every Orthodox Christian.

Credits: Adam Bernaert - 'Vanitas' Still Life (1665)

Vanity ... one of the seven (or eight) sins ... is our prompt for today ... so be 'vainglorious' and share your haiku inspired on 'Vanity' with Carpe Diem.


golden glow -
she is combing her long blond hair
in front of the mirror

in front of the mirror
wallowing in vanity
a young novice


Well ... have fun, be inspired and share your 'vainglorious' haiku with Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'till February 14th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will share our next episode 'Greed' later on today around 10.00 PM (CET).