Pride vs. Vanity

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously....Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us."
- Jane Austen (1775 - 1817), Pride and Prejudice, 1811

Pride is a good thing, usually. (Unless it goes before the fall.) After all, we say "I'm proud of you," and encourage others to "take pride in their work." There's school pride, team pride, national pride, etc. , and all these are generally positive things. Right?

What I've been experiencing this week is not that. It's more sinister. It has me buying "eternally mauve" lipliner and digging through my jewelry box for shiny hoop earrings that I haven't worn in 10 years. It has me dragging my husband to the mall on cold rainy nights. It's pure, simple... vanity.

One of the first tasks of Golden Heart finalists is to provide a publicity photo. It'll be used on the RWA website, on promotional materials, and at the RWA National Conference in San Francisco. So, I wanted it to look just right. Professional, but not stuffy. Fun, but not frivolous. Easy for potential publishers and agents to visualize on the back of my book...

I'm not sure I accomplished all that, but I feel great relief in finding a pose that doesn't make me cringe when I look at it. I guess I can't ask for much more than that!

P.S. - Thanks to all my friends and family for the congratulations on my GH final. I feel like I've already won.