In "An ode to envy" Parul explains that our minds create scenarios that may not necessarily be there. She states that "jealousy trains us to look with intensity but not accuracy". I must say that statement is very intriguing to me, our minds are telling us how to perceive things or imagine things that aren't reality. Now that we're on the subject of reality, let's talk about social media. In a world completely consumed with technology and social media what do we consider reality? Seeing people always happy, going to parties, surrounded by all their "things." So let me ask, have you ever seen someone post about their amazing weekend or amazing family, amazing relationships or amazing new pair of shoes? When you see things like that do you let your mind wonder into how poor your weekend was or what you don't have, or are you smart enough to realize that what you see isn't real.
In my opinion envy and jealousy for that matter are some of the most controlling emotions that humans possess. At some point in your life you have to be able to control it rather than let it consume how you feel and act. I think everyone at some point, in response to jealousy has talked poorly about someone to hide the fact that you were jealous of who they were or what they had that you didn't. Now you may look back seeing how childish it was. Even though you see how silly it was back then more likely than not you still do it despite what you may think. I personally haven't done anything to dramatic in response to envy, although I have judged someone by how they look or how they've acted because I felt insecure about myself. A lot of people might be able to relate to this maybe not by people you know personally but by who you see on television or on magazines.
Envy can be easily tied into literature as well. Envy has been written since the beginning of the written word like the Bible, the Torah, Shakespeare, and Aristotle. Parul suggested that we might not even have literature if it weren't for the feeling of envy. I have talked about how it can be a negative but it might not be all together bad, it could be a great motivator. For instance, if you were on a team and one of your teammates were really good. Obviously you would be happy to have a great player to help your team but at the same time be envious of their abilities. Envy, in this scenario may motivate you to do better, and work harder.
As I'm reflecting on envy, it's evident that it's apart of a human's life. The important part to remember, is that envy can be the result of unreal perceptions. Envy, if channeled properly, as well as jealousy can actually be used for good.