Narcisism

With the arrival of the social media, there came the selfie. But what is the reasoning behind taking a selfie? Is it reasonable that people sometimes feel that at a certain moment the world should know what they look like? And is it okay to feel good about yourself without necessarily being narcissistic?

I could never understand the logic behind selfies. Okay, it makes sense if you are in a really cool place, like in the mountains where there is nobody who could take a picture of you and you really want to keep that memory. But in your room, in a fitting room or in a bathroom?? I just don't get it.

So I'm going to try and think about it harder...

The trigger of taking a selfie is most likely when somebody sees their reflection and think they look really good in the present lighting, area or whatever. So they capture the special moment and... post it online for everyone to see. If it is true that the moment they take the picture they think they look good, the only reason of posting it on social media can only be the need for self-validation. But is it pure narcissism?

Well overall, I think not. If you share a picture of yourself in a moment when you think you look especially good, that tells me that you really want people to see you at your best and possibly give you positive feedback. This is an indication of a need to prove oneself, to make oneself feel better, to force a compliment. Does it work for long-lasting self confidence and liking yourself? I don't think so. But the need to show one's best is apparent in real life too, only it is easier to do so on the Internet.

With that another aspect comes to my mind, namely feeling good about yourself in general, not only your looks. Is it okay to praise oneself or 'brag' of one's acomplishments? I caught myself today at doin something I have been doing subconsciously for a long time now. I managed to come up with a solution to a problem and I said to myslef "Oh yeah, you're the best". But this moment of euphoria and self-satisfaction was very quickly stifled by a voice in my head saying "but you didn't manage to achieve this and you couldn't do that and besides, that problem wasn't so complex after all..."

So is it okay to feel good about yourself, without being narcissistic? I think in order to function well both socially and individually, it is necessary to know yourself and to accept and like yourself. It can be done without the element of self-adoration and it's a lot harder than it sounds. However, I believe that it is worth the effort, after all, you have to spend your whole life with yourself, just like in a marriage you need to embrace the good and the bad in order to make it function properly.