Narcissus Revisited

Last week I did my annual RISE session on social media for artists and other humans.

I always get such interesting questions from the attendees.

Each year there is a new social media platform to talk about. When I started giving this session, Pinterest, Google+ and Grumpy Cat hadn't been born yet. So the topics change. A lot.

But this year, we talked a lot about photo sharing. And I had a little revelation while I was putting the presentation together.

I love this video  about Instagram - it cracks me up.

Look at this Instagram from We are Social Media on Vimeo.

I love all the spoofs of social media.

But I have to say that I think a lot of people interpret social sharing incorrectly.

True narcissism is an infatuation with oneself. I love the actual myth of Narcissus, which is painfully sad, and might teach you something you didn't know about having a nemesis.

But I think that when people share pictures of their food, or their pets or a baby bird in their backyard, they are saying what we all said when we were five - "Hey - look! I found this! I love it! Wanna see?"

If only I'd had an Iphone when I was five... I'd love to have shared pictures of our cat Pittypat, our dog Scout, the copperheads in our backyard, and the world's best BBQ at the now closed legendary establishment - Tom's. I'd have shared pictures of my mom teaching us how to make cakes in 4H, our red white and blue eagle infested wallpaper in our astonishingly patriotic house, my dad's Kharmann Ghia which honked every time we turned left, and the numerous times my brother set the garage on fire. I would have shared a billion horny toads, crawdads walking up our street, and the butterflies that were the size of my head. I would have done this because we are friends.

That, my friends, is love, not narcissism. Share what you love. It's not selfish - it's generous.

I forgot to blog one of my embossing class cards.

This was my favorite technique that we did - the faux patina technique. I used this awesome tutorial by Angie. Amazing how easy it is to get this pretty finish.

Word to the wise - if you want the supremely awesome Word Play stamp set used here, you only have a few days to get it - sniff - it's retiring. Click here to get your paws on it.

And don't forget to share.

Oh - and here are some cat ears that are controlled by your emotions and also a cute origami fox and my new favorite Iphone app.

Loveyameanitbye.