Vanity, Thy Name is Dana

The other day, I had flipped down the visor in the car and was checking my reflection. Keem asked me why I was always looking in the mirror. What? What did she mean? I didn't always look in the mirror, did I?

She reminded me that every morning, when we are leaving for work, I check my reflection in the mirror by the hallway.

I looked at her. "You think I'm vain, don't you?"

She laughs. "Yes. That's it. You are vain. Vain Dana."

Last night, I flipped down the visor again and was applying some of my new lip balm, Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in the exciting Rhubarb tint. Keem asked me if I was going somewhere. No. I was just applying lip balm.

"But it's tinted."

"So?" I asked.

"You are vain. Vain Dana! Your mirror time is limited to the bathroom only. No mirror time in the car unless you have your own mirror." She flipped up the visor.

I know she was kidding but it has me wondering. Am I vain? I have noticed that lately, when I look in the mirror, it is not for the reasons B.E. (Before Effexor). B.E., when I looked in the mirror, it was because I was disgusted with my appearance and was mainly looking at myself so that I could remind me of how ugly I was.

I didn't put any time into hair care, mainly I would put some mousse in my graying hair and go. So my hair hung limply. Now, with my brand new haircut that I love, with my shiny new hair color, I can look at myself and smile at my appearance. I'm not ugly. I'm not beautiful either but I can honestly say that, hey, I think I'm kind of cute. I may even start experimenting with makeup again. Not for anyone else but for me. Because I want to look good for myself.

I've known people that were vain before, who thought everything was about them and how they looked and how great they thought they were. I don't think that I am one of those people. I'm just excited to look in a mirror and love the person smiling back at me.

And I have to tell you right now, if loving me is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Previous Comments:

At 1:51 PM, brooksba said...

DM,

I don't think you're vain. I think that you're happy. And you should be.

There is NO WAY you're even close to a certain person whom we knew as vain.

I hope you are up to going out tonight. Let me know. Maybe we could plan something awesome!

Love you!

Beth


At 4:37 AM, Weary Hag said...

Dana,

You ARE cute. You made me realize how rarely I ever look in the mirror anymore, and I probably should. By the way, your last line here? What a killer! It's quite comical yet it packs a wallop. Can I borrow that sometime? ;)

Carol


At 2:41 PM, Robert ~ Marlénè said...

Why is it always labeled "vanity" when people look in mirrors? My fascination with mirrors is mostly one of curiosity... what do I look like from this angle? What do I look like when I'm talking on the phone? What do I look like when I'm eating? Is there something on my nose or is my hair doing something that will cause giggles or terror in passersby? Essentially, what do people see when they look at me?

And while this is self-centered curiosity, I don't see anything wrong with studying oneself closely... you are the only person you can stare at for hours on end without getting offended.

Next time someone accuses you of vanity, ask them for whom they keep their living-rooms clean, for whom do they mow their lawns, for whom do they wash their cars? We do these things because they are visible indicators of our personalities, and we want other people to find pleasure in looking at them... and so just as we take satisfaction in looking over our newly-cleaned living-rooms and freshly-mown lawns and shiny-washed cars, we are allowed to take satisfaction in a particularly successful hairstyle or makeup. Just because you need a mirror to look at it doesn't make it vain.

Ramble ramble ramble. I want some Effexor! Can you get that without a prescription? ;-)


At 1:38 PM, At 1:51 PM, brooksba said...

Hey,

What's going on? I want a new post. Please???

I miss you.

Beth