How to Overcome Negativity Bias and Build Self-Esteem in 2025

The soul is dyed with the colour of its thoughts — Heraclitus

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Le Désespéré by Gustave Courbet (1845) is a self-portrait of the painter. In a letter to his friend, Courbet wrote ‘Through this laughing mask that you know me with, I hide the sorrow, the bitterness, and the sadness that grips the heart like a vampire from within’.

The Reflective Enemy

Unsettling the mind of an enemy has long been a cornerstone of warfare. Deception, trickery, and red herrings — all deployed to fracture reality, to render it an illusion. Yet, not every battle is waged by armies or commanded by generals. Some wars are quieter.

Sometimes, the enemy doesn’t storm the gates; they’re already inside, whispering from the shadows, their taunts as familiar as your own breath.

Sometimes, the enemy is a mere reflection. Every flaw is exaggerated, every imperfection magnified. You want to look away, but the reflection holds you captive. You fixate on the stretch marks etched like scars, the softness of a belly that no longer feels like yours. The reflection speaks, but its voice is my own.

“You’re fat. You’re heavy. You’re uneven. You don’t even want you — who else would?”

The room fades into darkness, the world narrowing until only I and the reflection remain. We are locked in silent opposition.