Pyramids - lagacy

You

Your life is important; everyone needs to be kept up to date with all your trials and tribulations and what better way to do that than get a self-portrait made. Hanging up pictures of ourselves is nothing new, anyone that could afford the paint, canvas and artist’s fee have been doing it for centuries. Placing them high up is preferable, so that our image is bearing down on every passing stranger.

People worry and fuss about how they look and want to avoid criticism. With everyone caring about how they look, nobody cares anything like as much about what you look like. If the image happens to be good, then amongst the people who express some encouragement there will be many that don’t quite share your enthusiasm of you, like you do.

Some will make a picture of themselves copying any ‘originality’ in your images. Others will always be on the lookout to find fault. To climb one has to push down to gain ground, so saying something nasty about a portrait slows another’s ascent. Alternatively, you can take credit for any help you give so that once again it is you that can feed off the spoils. The main person that is influenced by self-portraits is the person in the frame.

To get more attention, add a well-known figure into the equation smiling alongside you. It is the fantasy that lots of other people will show adoration and while away the day talking about you that provides the motivation. In all ways, it is always about the self. Those that complain about any form of iniquity are the biggest culprits of wanting to rise in stature. Many do have a caring and compassionate nature. They come across as very inclusive, indiscriminate and show little vanity. However, there is always a sense that people are creating and preserving an image.

The purpose of notoriety is to enhance the gravitas and perceived importance of what you are saying or what you are doing. It also determines how relevant your appearance is. Corporations have logos and a brand image, people become a parallel of that. A perverse interest is taken in the details of someone who is recognisable by the masses. People can be side-lined regardless of their potential. We need to be invited into the club. That entails being certified, registered and confirmed as worthy by enough people, by certain people.

Empathy is not and never will be equally distributed. In front of you is a wall plastered with pictures of different people. When you approach to take a closer look, some will catch your attention. The compassion we have for all the people photographed is not the same. It is a lot more for some than others. It is easy to identify the reason if you are unashamed to admit why. We may feel more duty bound to help if it is someone who works at the same place as you or is a member of the same club. A connection is easily recognised. This process may have originated when we became accustomed to recognise someone as being ‘one of us’ right from mankind’s early period. Conversely, we may see someone as being alien, an outsider and maybe single them out for some rather petty distinctions.

Sometimes it takes getting to know someone quite well before you can form a fully rounded opinion of them. You can’t spend enough time with lots of people to show your worth, so we make a lot of effort with a first impression. The first time you meet someone a new mental embryo is formed. We gauge their attractiveness and glean a little from their handshake, their smile and accent, how they talk. If there is something we do not like, we mark them with a scornful adjective; strange, odd, wooden etc. and tip them into the mental trash bin. If there is something we do like, then we are prepared to excuse a lot of potentially negative things. We can be quick to categorise, and we respond warmly or coldly according to how we have marked them.

The more familiarity you have with someone, the more links that are created in your mind and it is a battle to ensure that the earliest ones stored are as positive as possible. Hence many will be consistently putting effort into maintaining their image. Keeping up appearances is the speciality of those that care about having an enduring footprint. There is no need to feel distraught when you hear things you don’t want to hear about you, for greater exposure can often change people’s perception of you. It is just whether you will get the chance. Irrespective of all the positive things we do, there is bound to be something or other that people take issue with. What sticks in peoples’ minds is often that one negative thing. As time passes most is forgotten, what we remember about your activities gets less and less, leaving just one or two key things.

Whilst some are working with a paintbrush, pen, or hammer and chisel fabricating something, others make themselves into a living pyramid. They present themselves as a character of interest in their own right and need no skills or achievements as such. They just need to be as well-known as possible so they can tell everyone about all the things that they are good at, what they like, what they don’t and what they are capable of. So much to show that you are more interesting and noteworthy than most others. You might have inspired others, which is wonderful. However, any blame for undeserved power and influence that someone obtains can be left at the door of those that buy into it. Admiration whilst alive can be advantageous, for our time is now and others will supersede us.