Embracing Vanity: A Guide to Confident Living in Second Life

I feel like I’m pretty self-aware.  Most people probably feel that way about themselves.  But I really do believe that one of my strengths is an honest accounting of myself.  As such, I warn others about my greatest flaw.  I am very vain.  I own it.  I’m not likely to change it.  The best I can do is to keep my vanity in check and apologize when it spills over.

Some people who love me will try to excuse my behavior.  It’s not that I am vain, they say.  I’m confident.  That is also true.  But confidence and vanity are not the same thing.  Vain people like me tend to be confident.  Confident people, however, are not necessarily vain.  And trust me when I say, I’m a very vain bimbo.

Confidence or Vanity?

I am exceptionally confident in my appearance.  Both in Second Life and the real world, I am accustomed to flattery.  Long, lingering looks.  I attract attention.  That is not accidental.  In the real world, I put a lot of time, money and effort into how I look.  It’s much easier to be sexy in a virtual world.  Even so, I know I stand out. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.

I know this because of the way people respond to me.  The other day, I was shopping and someone told me they were looking for a girl to spoil.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am that girl.  Spoil me!  After we were done, I asked them why they chose me.  The answer was expected.  It was because I have “a perfect body”.

All things are subjective.  Of course there’s no such thing as “perfect”.  But people use the word to describe me.  I use it to describe myself.  I don’t think I’m “perfect”.  Far from it.  But to the extent that such a thing exists, I am a perfect plastic bimbo.  People seem to know what I mean when I say that.  The feedback I get suggests that a lot of people agree.

I have difficulty thinking of responses when people compliment my appearance.  I thank them, of course.  But then what?  I can’t just leave it at that.  Generally, I’ll pay them a compliment in return.  There’s always something nice you can say back.  Sometimes it feels awkward.  Like I’m just saying something nice because someone complimented me.  That’s not untrue.

I am confident because I know I look good.  But I am not confident enough to leave the house if I’m less than perfectly put together.  In SL terms, I hate it when people see me without my hair on.  Darden is allowed to watch me put my look together.  But I don’t like anyone else seeing how the bimbo gets made.  I’d really rather she not see it either, but I try to keep my vanity in check.

True confidence means feeling comfortable regardless of the situation.  An over-confident person rarely doubts themselves even when they should.  A vain person, like me, will feel uncomfortable in situations others consider normal.  If my hair gets messed up, I will crash out!  That’s not confidence.  It is insecurity.  The truth is, vanity is a mask.  Like my make-up, it covers up imperfections. 

Embracing Vanity

I know this about myself.  I am not trying to change it.  My vanity is core to who I am.  I spent two years in bimbo training to become who and what I am.  Vanity was part of that training.  It was encouraged as motivation to be the best bimbo I can be.  Seeing other bimbos who look better than me makes me uncomfortable. I am aware that it is a flaw.  In some ways, it’s a short-coming I am proud of. *shrug*

I also understand the need to keep a lid on my vanity.  I tell people I am vain and they chuckle.  I state that I am a perfect blonde bimbo and Darden jokes that I am also humble.  It’s funny because I’m not.  I get a pass on these things because I’m sexy and people want to fuck me.  But there’s a limit.  If I was some out-of-control bitch, people would get tired of me no matter how spectacular my tits are.

To combat this, I have worked on my empathy.  If you let me, I will talk about myself all day.  Whenever I realize I am monopolizing a conversation, I make myself ask a question.  And I will genuinely listen to the response.  I’m good at that.  I’m vain, but not a narcissist.  At least not in the clinical sense.  Do I look at myself in mirrors?  Come on now.  Of course I do. I’m gorgeous! But I don’t act solely in my own self-interest.  I think that’s the difference.

The other day I was taking a picture of myself.  Something vain people do a lot.  A friend reached out. He sounded down.  So, I invited him to my shoot and listened to his story.  I do this because I legitimately care about others.  When I finished with the picture, my plan was to log out and tend to real life.  But I stuck around because my friend needed someone to listen to him.  We went downstairs where I don’t often entertain and had a nice chat until I had to log off.

The upside, as my bimbo trainer used to tell me, is that I bring beauty and pleasure to all around me.  As a bimbo, that’s the part I choose to focus on.  Let’s just all feel impossibly sexy.  Don’t act out.  Care about others at least a little bit.  Keep the dark side of vanity under wraps and let’s spread bimbo love and joy, bitches!

Sorry.  I got a bit carried away there.  But you get it.  Let’s not overthink it.  We’re all sexy here.