Pride

Pride is an explosive feeling.

We are encouraged daily to be proud, to take pride in our work, to be proud of our country, to have pride our appearance, our actions, our behaviour. Nationalism plays on our pride. It encourages us to invest in our country or sports team, or war effort. It says to be somewhere, or a citizen of some country is something to be defended and protected. Something unique, and that nobody can take from us (see various movies for references to dirty rotten scoundrels being able to take someone's money etc etc, but not their pride). We explode with pride when national teams win a sports game, when our loved ones are successful, when we complete a task that has been arduous or demanding, when we achieve that perfect look. Pride is an explosive feeling.

But that explosion is not always positive. It can be dangerous. We are also critical of others for being 'proud', or for letting their pride get in the way. It can be something that stunts our growth, stunts our ability to interact with others, and on a state level it can limit the potential for change and real action. When our pride is challenged it results in anger, aggression and the potential for a fight. The scale of this retributive feeling depends on the scale of the challenge to our pride, and the scale of our power to take action. Pride is an explosive feeling.

Pride is an explosive feeling. And explosions are always beautiful and sad to watch at the same time.