Becoming Gilderoy Lockhart: Self-Obsessed Fraud #MNBHP

Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd.

CoS

The title of this article is: Becoming Gilderoy Lockhart. You may be asking yourself, who in the world would want to become Lockhart? Probably no one, the problem is that so many of us are becoming Gilderoy. We are blind to our obsession with ourselves and the lengths to which we go to make ourselves look better than we truly are. Case in point: the selfie.

Which character in the Potter series can you picture taking selfies? For me, Lockhart springs to mind as the most likely candidate. Followed by Draco Malfoy and Dudley Dursley. Even Professor Slughorn—although his selfies would be of him with famous witches and wizards. We are so obsessed with ourselves that we take photos of ourselves making funny faces and post them all over social media. Then we live on the edge of our seats waiting to see how many people like our picture. When that gets boring, we post the highlight real of our lives: at the Heat game, day at the salon, sipping my frappuccino, doesn’t this new hat look cute, etc.

We as a society, including myself, have become Gilderoy Lockhart—sitting at a table, surrounded by ourselves. There is nothing wrong with loving yourself, the problem is that many of us—despite our obsession with ourselves—do not love ourselves any more than before we opened a social media account. Our self-esteem isn’t higher because our life looks like a reality TV show, or because 576 people liked one of our 22 posts. Why? Because we know what goes on behind the veil. We know the truth. Our lives are not perfect. We are not the coolest thing since Trapper Keepers (90’s version). We are just us—and that, may I say, is better than the social media version of us.

CHALLENGE:

Stop being Gilderoy Lockhart—the self-obsessed fraud. Put down the selfie extender and do something crazy—take a picture of someone you love. Be real. Be genuine. Stop trying to look like the next member of a boy band or pop superstar or whatever. Just be you.

Tell others why you love them, versus trying to get everyone to tell you why you are so great. If we stop obsessing over ourselves and start obsessing over caring for other people and helping them have better lives, we may finally be able to look ourselves in the mirror and say, “I love who I am becoming.” “Being me is so much better than being the old, social-media version of me.”

How are you going to stop being Gilderoy Lockhart? Share your answer with us using #MNBHP.

Next Week: Becoming Moaning Myrtle: Life of the Party