Among my circle of friends, we decided to take a night asking ridiculous questions to one another and get some real answers. One of which was “describe everyone in the group with one word.” Imagine my surprise when everyone nodded upon the label “narcissist” levied upon myself.
After some thought, however, I realized they were right. Moreover, I also realized I didn’t have a problem with it, either. As someone who artistically creates massive amounts of content and presents to anyone who’ll pay attention, I crave the feedback (positive or negative) just to revel in the fact of my relevance. Don’t you?
Inspired by my own response to another blog, some argue that it’s a necessary step to artistic success. If you don’t already think you’re “the man,” why should anyone else think so? Put another way, who would you hire: the person who says “I’ll try my best to do what you want” or the one who claims “No problem… consider it done?”
One could argue that there is a difference between self-confidence and narcissism, but when it’s your name on the side of the truck or your image on a magazine cover, you’ve become a brand, a literal Mr. or Ms. Trademark. To cultivate that brand and leverage the resulting assets, it can become an obsession.
Are you on Twitter? Facebook? STILL on MySpace? Have a blog? A fan site? Go to conventions to present and just attend? Do you hang out with OTHER self-promoting, narcissistic creative types? You’re in good company, my friend (and everyone should have a friend like me.)
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