Mee, Mee, Mee, Mee

When opera singers warm up, they sing mee, mee, mee, mee, mee. There is an old joke relating opera singers and the psychological focus of this article, which amounts to a play on words. The joke changes the mee to "me," referring to a person who always thinks about life in terms of "me." The psychological part of the joke presents a person who is self-centered or more appropriately, narcissistic. In a previous article, I described narcissism but due to our daily news and social media reports a reminder of this psychological concern seems appropriate.

Have you ever experienced a one-sided conversation? That is, as you attempt to talk to someone, the person interrupts you and talks over you. Perhaps, you began talking about a recent experience but the other person ignores your experience and talks about their experiences. If this type of conversation, which is not a conversation but a monologue, is familiar, then you're familiar with narcissism as well.

Another example involves someone who insists on doing everything according to their values, beliefs and perspectives. Even when faced with laws that are clearly established for the betterment of society, the laws are disregarded. In severe cases, the person often makes up stories to justify their narcissistic expressions and behaviors.

It is important to recognize narcissistic expressions for several reasons. First, we need to be certain that we are not guilty of narcissistic expressions and behaviors. Second, narcissistic people are extremely difficult to live with, since they ignore everyone else and display little, if any, caring or compassion for other people, unless, of course, they are likely to benefit from performing a caring act. Third, we need social structures, rules and laws to help create harmony and order within our society. Without harmony and order, our society is chaotic, anarchy rules and a persistent lack of caring and concern for others exists.

Aside from individual narcissism, there also is collective (social groups, social values and social expressions) narcissism. Every day we hear or read about collectives that display narcissism.

Collective narcissism also expresses the "me" characteristic but the collective "me" focuses on group values and beliefs. Collective narcissism is destructive to people similar to individual narcissism, however, with collective narcissism many more people are simultaneously affected. That is, groups affect other groups just as an individual affects another individual.

At present, there is considerable disharmony in our collective lives. We need to bring harmony and order back to our society. Recognizing narcissism is one important step in that direction.