...I haven't read anything he's written until this article directed my attention towards his blog. And, no, admittedly I haven't read everything ES has ever written. It's nothing compared to the movies, but it can sometimes come close. Missing a seat on a plane and thinking that, maybe, it was because two people were going to meet and fall in love is a lovely image.

Being so fixated on food that you can't pay close attention to both a) your unwillingness to work for a friend for free and b) the impact of sensory overload on one's ability to pay attention is a less lovely picture.

I can read between the lines as well as anyone. It may take a while, but if you speak the truth, eventually I'll agree with you. If I speak the truth, eventually you'll agree with me. It could be a long-ass wait, however, so we shouldn't hold our breath. Live your life as you will, but do try and accept that we create our own reality. When we believe something, we will see it. When we do not believe something, we do not see it -- at best the data becomes anomalous.

So while truth is an important value, it's not one that can be easily shared between insane people. Most of us qualify as insane in the sense that many of the things we perceive, think and feel can not be shared with others -- others just can't be there with us in our self-made world of ramparts and battlements. Thankfully there are some things we can commune about, so all is not entirely lost. But when it comes down to the CORE beliefs that drive our key perceptual interpretations, only truly sane people can agree on everything.

If, however, you think that doing your job is the same thing as helping other people, you might want to take an inventory of your own behavior. For example, I've never met a single partially SANE LCDC, or MFC, who equated their work with "helping" other people such that they never felt it necessary to volunteer on their own time and on their own terms.

What we do for pay to feed and clothe ourselves is one thing; what we do over and above that for fun and for free is something else entirely. What we do on a voluntary basis is what keeps us sane, happy and content. The stuff we do for money is what we're giving to the "machine." The machine's job, right now anyway, is to eat our brain and turn us into self-serving spiggots of self pity -- so that we'll go out and buy s'more crap and dig the hole that much deeper.

If ES engages in this kind of behavior and hopes to stay truly sober and somewhat sane, he will be met with failure. Eventually. The flack he's gotten thus far could be an advance warning from his Higher Power to pony up and do another Fourth and Fifth Step.

Or it could be that all of this flack is just a bunch of people projecting their individual neuroses onto a person brave enough to put some of his insides on the table.

The best way I've found, for me, to deal with people who crave attention and only seem to be presenting a side of their story that conveniently leaves other people out of the picture, is to begin telling them the truth about myself. At a context appropriate level. If they engage me at my level, then I know they're at least trying. If they just blow me off without a hint of consideration, then, yeah, I know I'm dealing with a narcissist, and probably a malignant one.

For example, if a narcissistic woman were to offend me by walking in front of me and interrupting a conversation I was trying to have with someone, I would do a couple of things. First, I would tap the person on the shoulder and say, "excuse me...did you realize that I and were having a conversation?" Then I would smile a knowing smile because I know I've done thoughtless things like this before, too. No point in offloading the worst parts of my day into someone else's lap just because they're as flawed as I am.