Leave it at the door; better yet, don't ever attempt to serenade a whore.

People are such ridiculous creatures, at least the most of them anyway.

For the longest time, I had hoped that the pathetic phenomena of prioritizing personal appearance over everything else was just a folly of youth.

As I am sure at one point in time or another
we have all championed
our own self image
in the face of criticism,
but shouldn't the process
of "growing-up"
a.k.a. maturing
include, near its core,
a striving to reconcile
who we think we are as a person,
with who we actually are
according to our actions,
as well as with
who we dream to be?

Alas, I may expect too much.

It seems that whether it is in a personal, professional, or political realm,
it is the image (or mirage)
one creates of one's self,
for ones self,
in the desperate hope that others will see the same image,
that many individuals choose to endorse,
over and in opposition to everything else.

The ultimate failure is when the individual (or constructor) will cling to their own self-image over what others tell them they really appear as.
And when this desperation
-to cling to ones own perception of what they think they appear to others as-
continues to exist,
in the face of not just the testimony of the people that can actually see the real appearance of said individual,
but in addition to quotes of said individual,
as well as examples of that individual's behavior
-which clearly contradict this self-image-
that will make the grossest fool of each of us all.

Take into consideration a person who would vehemently describe themselves as a "good person."
(as  I illustrated in another post, "good" is a purely subjective and ultimately meaningless term - so without even starting to explain you can already see the hilariously sad, buffoonish contradiction sprouting here) 
Since "good" is already a word that really only means anything to the person saying it,
it would seem a fairly ignorant and dismissive way to attempt to describe oneself to anyone else...

This is the kind of malarky commonplace among corrupt politicians.

To be frank, 

the whole idea of constructing a self-image 

in regards to how others view oneself 

is rather oxymoronic. 

Shouldn't the image one has of oneself,

in regards to how one appears to others,

be constructed from testimony,

as opposed to self-generated fantasy?

So it follows then,

that flattery

is the most damning 

of all forms of lies?

...

Wouldn't we all be better off

with compassionate & critical honesty?

This no matter how poorly conceived or constructed,
that self image is necessary for the early phases of
(childhood) psychological development.
Remember your early teens?
All that traumatic exploration of social norms,
groups and gender rolls?..

The traditional american middle & high schools are,
if little else,
institutions of social conditioning.
Social cliques, and the growing complications of
managing interpersonal relationships
are necessary to struggle though
in order to escape
slavery to them.
That is if one ever longs to leave
that mental state in the first place...

LINK TO LARGER IMAGE

The only hope of integrating
the who you want to seen as,
the actual who other people see,
and the who you want to be...

... is to adopt a universal honesty.
That includes being able to recognize those
who have little personal integrity and aptly
judge their words & opinions accordingly.

Which is not to say, dismiss any dissenting
or poorly explained, or self-contradicting,
commentary flung like feces in your face...
but ask why, of all parties involved...
you very well may learn a little about
everyone involved, including yourself...

So, what's your New Year's resolution?

Cheers.