How do others perceive me? I would probably never go so far as to say “Tell me what you really think” due to the fear that they might actually do so. I certainly know how I want others to perceive me, and have a mental picture of myself which is almost certainly distorted by my ego.
We probably all wonder this at some point, and in fact have looked at a picture that someone has taken and said – “Sheesh, that ain’t what I look like! I could not possibly be that fat, short, ugly, and bow legged!”
Or someone records us talking and then later we listen back to the recording and say – “Why is that doofus blathering on about themselves? Don’t they realize how stupid and conceited they sound?”
So, to ameliorate that with respect to my own self esteem instability, I have decided to construct the image you see at the top of this blog article. That is pretty close to the mental image I have of myself, and is free from the defects that have been inflicted upon me by various amateur camera operators.
I recently read a very disturbing article entitled “Following the Trail from Narcissism to Fragile Self Esteem”. The key premise of this article is that narcissists are continuously trying to validate their own positive self feelings through self promotion and derogation of others.
Sounds like Facebook to me.
All content copyright of Christopher Hammond
