Envy is underrated. It is a cure, for the times I feel mediocre. It gives me motivation; driven by a negative push, I seek to polish myself, to gain a certain glean that would let me fit in. What is this sickness, that demanded fixing?
Envy is in all of us, surfacing at times to rear its entire form – commanding anger – or sometimes there in the underbelly of things, making itself inconspicuous, preferring to save the damage for later. It’s a nice name, Envy, for something so destructive. Its sing-song syllables and almost mythical sound, like a spell you’d put yourself under as a way to cope with what was immediate, ignoring the aftertaste.
It is a word with no real meaning to unlock, naked and shameless in what it wants to stand for. At the party, she is no seductress, already confident of what she wants and having it in abundance. But our writers this month take her hand to dance with, seeing what may come out from the tango.
The poison we once let seep into our bones, with time become one with the rest of us, learning to find its role in the story of our lives. It is a small part in the cosmos of our experience but noticeable in the feelings it inspires, hot as rage, red as embers. Is it not a privilege to feel something so strong and unable to be ignored, so primitive and natural, to have lived it and later vomit it into something creative and comprehensible – to make something good out of something bad?
In podcast #7, we meet Shamir Hameed from Yakin Malaysia to talk about how the envy that we live with everyday can be detrimental to larger society. The entrenched prejudices and distrust between communities in Malaysia is only one example of the negative consequence of Malaysians harbouring too much envy. Can there ever be a day that Malaysians leave behind the grudges that have been handed down to them?
ISSUE Magazine is happy that it’s still alive and growing seven issues on! You can be a part of our journey too by liking and sharing our Facebook page at facebook.com/issuemag as well as following us on Twitter at @ISSUEMag.
We look forward to 2013, and all the new opportunities and stories it will bring. We hope to see you here again in January for ISSUE #8: Light. Happy reading!
– Al & Lutfi
Image is “ISSUE Envy Poster” by Syar S. Alia
