The 8th deadly sin
Yesterday I watched an episode of the Tyra show on Singapore's channel 5, hosted by the stunningly gorgeous Tyra Banks of ANTM fame. The topic for the show was The Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Sloth and Vanity.A poll of the audience found that 70% of them admitted to being guilty of lust! Hmmm...If swooning over Josh Hartnett in a movie or checking out real-life persons (Who Shall Not be Named for purposes of privacy) are acts of lust, I think I am guilty of this sin if not, at least one or more of the other seven!
However, somewhere during the interviews, Tyra casually mentioned that she thought the 8th deadly sin was DENIAL.
Uh-oh, I don't know if I really agree. Because I think that sometimes denial is your brain's natural coping mechanism to preserve your sanity (and if it were a sin, I would be guilty, guilty, guilty!). When there is no obvious answer or solution, and when you don't know what to do with the feeling of overwhelming hopelessness, your brain automatically shuts down some parts of itself so it dosen't go beserk.
In the sweet blissful nirvana of denial, the usually sharp corners of emotions are blunted. Happiness is less vibrant, anticipation less hopeful, hurt less painful, sadness less overwhelming and disappointment less piercing. This ambivalent haze of artificial serenity that exists as a state of limbo, of neither here nor there, of neither feeling nor unfeeling, provides a temporary cocoon of warm protection for the jaded soul. A much-needed shelter from the harsh realities of living.
I do realize though that prolonged denial thought, cannot be a good thing. Because in denial, one goes through the motions of living in a neverending cycle of numbness, of night becoming day and day becoming night. Of seasons coming, passing, changing. And the rare occasion when there is some happy event, there is a jostle, an awakening, and the starved senses are allowed to bask and absorb the lightness of its surroundings to the fullest, and live life as it should be lived. But when that brief moment pasts, as it always inevitably will, there is a retreat into the seductively protective cocoon where, people and events, both happy and sad leave less of a mark than usual and life has less lustre.
Maybe what I'm trying to say is I think short-bouts of denial are part and parcel of life. The only thing is figuring out where to draw the line between the long and short of denial.
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ps. Denial isn't the only thing I'm guilty of. I'm also oh-so guilty of procrastination! Been meaning to upload my UK trip pictures for ages, but so far have only managed to upload the Paris part of the photos. Check them out here! Also, check out FeR's and Janvier's entries on our Games night! You guys are amazing with all the photos and details! Respect, respect! Let's do it again soon- while i still remember how to use the Cranium timer!!!! Hahaha...
Labels: Opinion, Random Stuff
posted by N.J.A.P.F. @ 12:20 AM
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