Wrote this one on July 14th, 2008:
A medieval pope named Gregory the Great classified the seven deadly sins, as part of one of his many reforms. With all of the fucked up shit that humans do, how does one choose the seven worst sins that a person can possibly commit? Anyhow, he somehow did it. Most of you are probably familiar with these seven cardinal sins (i.e. Se7en), and this entry isn’t about all sins anyway. I’m discussing what Gregory called invidia, or what we know as envy.
It’s funny how such a human emotion can be classified as one of the worst things you could possibly do. Something that could send you to hell, if you believe in such fairy tales. It comes in many ranges in forms—envying a friend’s new Benz, being a jealous girlfriend, coveting the jet-set lifestyles of the rich and famous. For those of you who know me well, you all know what form of invidia I’m constantly guilty of. It’s even funnier that envy is something we’re all guilty of, at one point or another. I guess we’re all ending up in the magical amusement park that is hell.
So why classify something that we all do as damnable? It’s something that is so human. It’s something that we can’t help, for the most part. And most importantly, it’s something that most people don’t enjoy feeling. Well, I don’t at least. Who likes jealously obsessing about that girl your boyfriend keeps talking to? Who likes fixating over stuff you want and other people have? About a life you don’t have?
That said, envy is a very irrational emotion. What good can possibly come out of it? Even anger and wrath (another deadly sin) - if you don’t kill, maim, or vandalize anyone or anything - at least result in a sort of release. Once you’ve had your angry fit of rage, you usually no longer feel angry (or at least that angry) anymore. And it usually ends in some sort of resolve (i.e. an apology). But envy is different. It festers and usually grows into something more if you let it bother you for long enough. And if you do decide to confront whoever you feel needs to be confronted about the situation… well, what good does it do? “I’m sorry you’re jealous of me”? If anything, it causes more harm than good.
So perhaps that’s why Gregory deemed this as a great evil. It’s one of those things that’s just better to ignore, forget, and get over. With that said, I think writing this helped me get over whatever I was getting all angsty about.
