How Do I Look?

From the Dark Mansion Tarot, the Ace of Cups; from Miss Mai's Victorian Oracle, The Gentleman:

If we were to scry into the contents of this cup, we might see many people and things that will bring us happiness and fulfillment. Yet what it won't show us is how these same people and things will also bring anger, tears and heartache. The dragonfly on this card is a hint of its hidden meaning. This insect spends most of its life underwater as a nymph; they only emerge as winged adults in the later part of their life. In the same way, we are offered various cups in our life, not so that we'll find perfect happiness but so we can develop enough maturity to know that kind of perfection doesn't exist. The Gentleman card represents outward appearances, thus his keyword is pride. He reminds me of a quote by Sallie Tisdale: "How do I look?" is nothing more than "Where do I belong?" While our instinct to belong and be with others is natural, we need not give up our autonomy, inner values or self-respect to do so. Otherwise, we'll find ourselves back in the nymph stage.