Here's something you might be interested in.
If we exist believing that our views and opinions are not correct, second-guessing our every movement according to our insecurities, then we’ll not likely ever gain the capability for learning much of anything. Freud felt that narcissism was an essential human characteristic, for several reasons, sexuality aside. Anyone who writes anything is practicing such narcissism. It's mostly healthy. While I’m not a psychologist, I highly recommend writing in order to promote one’s healthy narcissistic side.
When does narcissism become a problem? I am in no position to say, but would rather trust Dr. Sandy Hotchkiss, the author of "Why is it Always About You? The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism." In the book, Hotchkiss defines the sins as shamelessness, magical thinking, arrogance, envy, entitlement, exploitation, and bad boundaries. It would follow, then, that healthy narcissism should contain elements of gracefulness, logical thinking, humility, contentment, generosity, helpfulness, and respectfulness. This is a pretty good tool to use when it comes to writing, which is entirely narcissistic, whether it’s a note on a postcard or an entire epic novel.
When we write, the most important rule in general is to be ourselves. People have no choice but to judge each other based on the written word, it’s all we have unless we meet in meat-space rather than cyber-space. The first rule pretty much has to be such honesty because without honesty it becomes impossible to determine anything else. We should rather want to see honest shamelessness than dishonest gracefulness, and so on. I would rather want to see that one ugly weed in the flowerbed than to pretend it isn’t there. The flowers are just as beautiful, regardless.
Anyone who writes or comments on the internet who has committed any of the seven narcissistic sins, raise your hand. My hand is up. Your hand should also be up. Yes, yours. All of yours. You’ve committed those sins and you’ll do it again. So will I. It’s okay. It’s part of being honest.
Think of a body of writing, or a bundle of comments, or anything posted by an individual on the internet as a flowerbed. It’s pretty easy sometimes to see the weeds in someone else’s flowerbed. It’s even easier to point them out to the gardener, although where opinions are concerned, one person’s weed is another person’s flower, and on and on. But the most effective way to get someone to weed his or her flowerbed is to weed your own. People are, by nature, quite comparative, and tend their gardens based on how attractive yours might be.
If we exist believing that our views and opinions are not correct, second-guessing our every movement according to our insecurities, then we’ll not likely ever gain the capability for learning much of anything. Freud felt that narcissism was an essential human characteristic, for several reasons, sexuality aside. Anyone who writes anything is practicing such narcissism. It's mostly healthy. While I’m not a psychologist, I highly recommend writing in order to promote one’s healthy narcissistic side.
When does narcissism become a problem? I am in no position to say, but would rather trust Dr. Sandy Hotchkiss, the author of "Why is it Always About You? The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism." In the book, Hotchkiss defines the sins as shamelessness, magical thinking, arrogance, envy, entitlement, exploitation, and bad boundaries. It would follow, then, that healthy narcissism should contain elements of gracefulness, logical thinking, humility, contentment, generosity, helpfulness, and respectfulness. This is a pretty good tool to use when it comes to writing, which is entirely narcissistic, whether it’s a note on a postcard or an entire epic novel.
When we write, the most important rule in general is to be ourselves. People have no choice but to judge each other based on the written word, it’s all we have unless we meet in meat-space rather than cyber-space. The first rule pretty much has to be such honesty because without honesty it becomes impossible to determine anything else. We should rather want to see honest shamelessness than dishonest gracefulness, and so on. I would rather want to see that one ugly weed in the flowerbed than to pretend it isn’t there. The flowers are just as beautiful, regardless.
Anyone who writes or comments on the internet who has committed any of the seven narcissistic sins, raise your hand. My hand is up. Your hand should also be up. Yes, yours. All of yours. You’ve committed those sins and you’ll do it again. So will I. It’s okay. It’s part of being honest.
Think of a body of writing, or a bundle of comments, or anything posted by an individual on the internet as a flowerbed. It’s pretty easy sometimes to see the weeds in someone else’s flowerbed. It’s even easier to point them out to the gardener, although where opinions are concerned, one person’s weed is another person’s flower, and on and on. But the most effective way to get someone to weed his or her flowerbed is to weed your own. People are, by nature, quite comparative, and tend their gardens based on how attractive yours might be.