I have a weakness for both artsy paper products and peacocks. I’m fascinated with just how beautiful the covers of journals have become as well as greeting cards and stationary. Peacocks are ostentatious and showy and make a colourful subject to attract the attention of buyers and admirers of peacocks alike. All the images in this collage come from such products. I took them at different times because of their attractiveness and wasn’t sure how I would use them. They just seemed to be begging to be photo-collaged and this is the result.
Peacocks do stand proud and we are all familiar with the saying: “as proud as a peacock.” Only the male of the species is called a peacock. The female is called a peahen. Their beautiful plummage is really to attract the female of the species. “Peacocks are large, colorful pheasants (typically blue and green) known for their iridescent tails. These tail feathers, or coverts, spread out in a distinctive train that is more than 60 percent of the bird’s total body length and boast colorful “eye” markings of blue, gold, red, and other hues. The large train is used in mating rituals and courtship displays. It can be arched into a magnificent fan that reaches across the bird’s back and touches the ground on either side. Females are believed to choose their mates according to the size, color, and quality of these outrageous feather trains.”
Nature has endowed these birds with this beauty and each of us comes endowed with our own beauty, attributes, skills, talents, and abilities. There are also some who come with disabilities and handicaps as well as lesser attributes, skills, talents, and abilities. It is all part of Nature. I wondered whether we are as the saying says: “as proud as a peacock.”
Looking at my own life, I am of the opinion that human pride is not a deadly sin or vice. It seems to me that it is part of our human nature. I haven’t met many people who aren’t proud of one thing or another. There are different ways of being proud and some ways result in skilful behaviour and some in unskilful behaviour. This is true of individuals as well as groups.
I found an interesting quote by C.S. Lewis that shows when pride results in unskilful behaviour: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.” We are all familiar with the spirit of competition. After all, even the female peahens are choosing their mates “according to the size, color, and quality of these outrageous feather trains.”
Hope you enjoy the beautiful colours in this collage and have some of your own thoughts on pride.