Author Louis Weinstock writes about how narcissism has taken root in our society and what to do about it A self-image based too much on specialness is fundamentally fragile I’m on holiday in southern Spain and as the sun is setting one evening I go for a walk along the shoreline. I see Spanish families dotted along the beach, parents sitting on their portable reclining chairs drinking wine and eating crisps, and children playing in the soggy sand with their buckets and spades. I smile as I think to myself: ‘Life doesn’t get any better than this’.
Kids playing in nature. Everyone living a simple life, free from the worries of the world. Then I see something that broadens my smile.
Ahead of me there’s a girl, aged around nine, shaking her arms, her head and her hips in a freestyle dance. ‘How delightful,’ I think, ‘this girl is just following her own groove, dancing on the beach like no one is watching.’ I walk closer.
I notice the girl is looking at something on the rock. I get closer still and I see what she’s looking at. You’ve probably already guessed it: a mobile phone, in selfie mode.
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