Her eyebrows took up 2/3rds of her face and her lashes seemed to be reaching for both brows in an attempt to shake hands, wave or high-five. All things that are impossible for follicles-either real or fake-to do.

I heard somewhere that eyebrows are the Swiss army knife of the human body. They protect your eyes from sweat, rain, moisture and dust. Eyelashes help tell your eyelids when they need to shut to protect your eyes. Every part of our body evolved naturally to serve a purpose, but as time went on our mob mentality skewed that purpose and turned it into something else in a search for power. With our generation living in a world where your skills alone are no longer the golden ticket out of poverty and where social media has created a hot mess of Instagram “models,” sex is power. So most of us have turned into full-time peacocks. The way we have begun to treat our bodies comes from the same school of thought that gave birth to open-toed boots. Something created with the purpose to prevent slipping on the streets or freezing your feet off now has heels and a peak-a-boo slot for toes. This causes people to slip on the streets and freeze their feet off, sending the message that looking good is more important than serving a purpose.

We have evolved to cater to vanity and ego rather than survival. Yes, for those of us lucky enough to live in a first world country (despite it being ruled by invisible superpowers) we no longer need to think in such practical terms. It’s almost impossible to die from a cold when you can just fight it off in a week with over-the-counter medicine, and we can starve ourselves to look good, because food is readily available. In our world, self-destructive behaviors feel like choices.

Giraffes developed long necks in order to reach high up in the trees, humans have hair to protect the largest organ in the human body and large butts are the effect of African tribes using their behinds to carry their children. The needs and choices of every living thing from plant to animal has an effect on the traits shown and that will develop in future generations. Our world prioritizing vanity over purpose is us admitting to the fact that we rely so heavily on technology that it no longer matters how well we can survive without it.

In 1000 years, we will have once again evolved from our need to be beautiful rather than useful. For centuries Europeans covered up from the sun as if they would be killed by its rays in order to protect their pale and, in their eyes, beautiful white skin. This lead to generations of people who are not only seriously sensitive to our planet’s largest energy source, but also who are chemically imbalanced due to centuries of vitamin D deficiency. These days most of us suffer from Vitamin D deficiency, but that’s another story.

Taking extreme measures to change ones appearance used to be a luxury only afforded to members of the upper class. Now, even in countries like Venezuela with struggling economies, citizens are changing their appearance drastically. The people’s only way out of poverty is through beauty. We become what we value.

No longer are we evolving in order to beat the odds that Mother Nature throws at us. We are now evolving in order to survive ourselves. Because we live in uncertain times it seems as if attraction level is the only way out of poverty. However, we must remember that beauty is singular and societal where as true survival involves unity. True survival is real, constant and not created by those in power or used to control us. Ironically, although beauty is a singular goal driven by our individual egos it never has or ever will belong to us. Beauty will always belong to the eyes who view it and the people who control its ever-changing standards. What is beautiful today may not be tomorrow. Purpose starts from within and is more personal than fingerprints themselves. Purpose cannot be touched or changed by the outside world, but at the same time requires us to be in harmony with all living things in order to evolve and survive.

Rather than aiming for our eyebrows to hold our lashes we should reach for true meaning and purpose. Strive to look good, but don’t let this be the only thing you are striving for.