Pride

pride (praɪd)
noun.

or·gu·lho

Is pride a sin or a virtue?

If you’re religious, your most likely answer will be “a sin”. And that’s fine. But if you’re just studying the language and you want to understand the word to increase your vocabulary, then it is not as easy as it may seem at first.

TEA turned 7. Seven is such a special number, with so much magic gravitating around it, that it has inspired numerous significances over time: seven days of the week, seven dwarves, seven seas, seven wonders, seven deadly sins – just to name a few. I like to dwell particularly upon the latter, as my previous whisper got me reminiscing about.

Many sources refer to pride as one of the seven deadly sins, counteracted by “humility”, its opposing virtue. I prefer to believe that both pride and humility can co-exist within the same being, though. Whether as sins or virtues, but not necessarily as antonyms.

“Pride” is a double-edged word, as any online dictionary will show you, and it swings between a dark and a bright side. But if it’s meant to be a sin, then it is my favourite out of the seven.

TEA turned 7 in one of the most challenging years ever and I couldn’t be more proud. Of it, of me, of us. I am shamelessly proud of all our rebel teachers trying to make the change in language teaching. I am shamelessly proud of all our partners and suppliers which are small great businesses. And I’m shamelessly proud of our students plus the great things they accomplish. I’m proud of the hundreds of affairs we’ve had, the thousands of teas we’ve drunk together, all the human connections we’ve powered up. And I’m proud of you, for always sticking around, supporting and rooting for us.

And, if all that was not reason enough to feel pride, our new website went live this week. With a ‘back to basics’ kind of movement, at a time when the world is crying out for a change, in a month where pride is the watchword. This means a lot to me.

Is pride a sin or a virtue? You can’t really tell, can you?

But if living your pride is not preventing others to live theirs, perhaps you’re doing it right. Better off, if you’re communally living your pride out of others living theirs, then you’re definitely living it right. And I’m (twice as) proud of you.