Narcissism

I didn't take my cup of tea into the living room like I said I was going to do at the end of the last column. I was curious. I always write a column on my birthday and I wanted to see what I wrote about last year. I went into the archives and found 'Taking Sun on the Terrace' (I think that was what it was called). It was written by Scamp who was talking about how we were all sitting out on the deck enjoying the sunshine. He also mentioned that he prevented Colby from giving me a squirrel as a birthday present.
I enjoyed reading it. I looked at the archives and saw some other things with titles that sounded interesting. I began to read going from July to June to May. This is really good stuff, I thought. Really good.
Then I froze. Wait a minute! What am I saying?! Even worse, what am I thinking?!!! I live in the north for crying out loud! I was raised Lutheran! Northern women from Lutheran backgrounds are NOT supposed to admire anything they do or make. Ever. You can't even look in the mirror and think, I look good today. That's a sin, a huge sin. It might not be written in the Ten Commandments, but it might as well be.
I'm not sure about other parts of the country, but pride is a big thing here. You can be proud that your family has lived on the same piece of land for three generations. You can be proud that your child won a sporting event, scholarship or got on the honor roll. (Do they even still have an honor roll anymore?) You cannot be proud of something you've done,said,written or how you look. That's considered narcissism or "getting above yourself'", "being high and mighty" or "getting a swelled head".
It makes giving a compliment a tricky proposition. It is acceptable to give a compliment. You can say, "That is nice outfit you have on." The minefield is how you respond when complimented. You can say 'thank you', but you cannot say that you agree with other person who complimented you. For example, you would not want to reply "Thank you, I look good in this colour." That would be prideful. You could say, "Thank you, I found it while cleaning a closet." The generally accepted way to deal with a compliment is to say thank you and follow it with a slight self deprecating remark to show that you won't let it go to your head.
After I realised what I was doing, (sitting at the computer admiring my own work)I looked around to make sure no one saw me. No one was home except me and the cats, but that is what you do when you do something stupid, you look around for witnesses. No one saw me, so I was safe. I got away with it this time, but needed to remember not to do it again. After all, I don't want people to think I'm putting on airs....