you can also listen to this conversation on the faafo with courtney podcast or watch it on Vimeo.
have you ever called someone a narcissist, questioned their behavior, or felt personally attacked without stopping to examine your own ego? we talk a lot about other people’s egos, but what about our own? in this throwback conversation, i share some observations about how “you start to see the different ways that ego shows up.” sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s funny, and sometimes it’s our ego convincing us that “no, my situation is unique. this is different.” but is it really?
what happens when our ego gets bruised, when we retreat into our caves, or when someone reflects something back to us that we’d rather not see? i ask, “is it because they’re too much of a reflection of us” and whether we’re afraid of exposing our shadow selves. as i explain, “it’s a lot easier to hide our layers and our mask and our shadow self with one person than it is a group of people.” sometimes we reject the group but still want individual attention: “i don’t want to work in the group, but i want your attention by myself to myself.” there is something worth examining here about emotional triggers, judgment, vulnerability, and the masks we wear.
this isn’t about diagnosing anyone as a narcissist or pretending we’re above our own egos. it’s an invitation to observe ourselves, question our reactions, and perhaps laugh a little at the things we do without realizing it.