narcissus.

Mythology is super cool! I don't know if anyone has had a chance to look through some of the stories, but they are full of great life lessons. Lets start with this one.

Narcissus was a young hunter. Apparently he was also super good looking, and was so good looking, in fact, that he didn't need anyone else. He cast aside all those that loved him, because when you are hot it is okay to be a jerk to people. Nemesis, the divine being of retribution (seriously how cool is this religion? they have a god for everything) decided that she was sick to crap of his pathetic attitude, so while he was off hunting in the woods she presented him with a pond. This pond was crystal clear and allowed him to see his own reflection, which as we know is super hot, and he became entranced by it. Minutes turned into hours turned into days, and pretty soon he died--because even good looking people need food, and his beautiful reflection was just not enough to keep him alive.

The lesson here is don't piss off Nemesis. HAHA I'm just kidding. The actual lesson has to do with the prophecy by some old man who said that Narcissus would live a long and fruitful life as long as he never knew himself. So the lesson is that Narcissus would have lived a great life, full of valuable relationships, if he had just been nice instead of vain.

I could ramble on and on about the linguistic and actual similarities between gyms, the male gender and hunting and animals. In an effort to be "more manly" we spend hours in gyms, mostly because our modern sedentary lifestyle doesn't allow us to obtain physical activity in any normal fashion. I bring up Narcissus only because there is a huge mirror along one whole wall of the gym. It is often helpful to look at yourself in the mirror if only to motivate you through a workout. I'll admit it. I totally stare into my own eyes to try and intimidate myself into working harder. Usually that is all. I honestly give it my best effort to not flex in front of the mirror and stare at myself.

I just think it is so funny how often people will stand in front of these mirrors--for really long times--and just stare at themselves flexing. not lifting weights. not in the middle of a workout. just flexing. I get that some of them have worked really hard for their bodies, more of them have probably just injected themselves with--what we'll call--sugar water. Meanwhile their relationships are languishing by the wayside.

One would think, based on our academic setting that more people would know the story of narcissus, but I guess I'm just being altruistic.