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[Source]
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I remember taking an online quiz about narcissism. It was a serious one, not one of those silly quizzes with results that tell you nothing about yourself.
The quiz that I took involved lots of question, none of which I remember– and then a nifty summation about your personality at the end. The scale of the results of the quiz went from 1 to 30. One was someone like a cloistered nun, and thirty was someone like a movie star or national politician. Most people in the USA scored around 20.
I got a 6. That was about as low as a person who was not part of a conservative religious community could get.
At the time I was concerned that I scored so low, but had to admit that I’m just kind of who I am— which would not be the mind-set of a person who is suffering from extreme narcissism.
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I’d forgotten all about that quiz until last night when I was thinking about what I’ve learned from this NaBloPoMo project. I agree that I am a bit more disciplined in my writing now. But I’ve earned a B.A. in English Lit & a M.A. in Communication so I’ve already proved to myself and to the world that I can do that when need be. And I agree that I’ve found new ways to discover other bloggers. But searching for other people online is not really a calling for me.
In reality, I think what I’ve learned is that for me the stress of this project has been trying to convince myself that I want to focus on me every day. And considering my innate personality type, this is no surprise.
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I’ve continued through to the end of the month and I’ve done my best. It’s good to challenge yourself once in a while. But I can say that I now completely understand why Deb on the Rocks referred to this as “glorious madness.” Because it is.
Thanks for keeping up with me, gentle readers. I appreciate your attention & your comments & your suggestions about what I should write about next. It has helped me more than you can imagine.
But as of today I shall return to being the casual blogger who posts when I have something to say— whenever I feel like it– when I’m in the mood.
You know, like the free spirit that I am.
Later, kids!
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
Congrats on finishing! We all do NaBloPoMo for different reasons. (I’m still trying to figure out why I do it. haha) It’s a bonus when you learn something about yourself, don’t you think?
Glad you are giving yourself “permission” to go back to blogging on your own schedule. I’m subscribed so I’ll still be hanging out over here whenever you post! 🙂
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Melisa, thanks! I agree that learning something about myself makes me think that doing this was a good idea. Meeting lots of new bloggers makes me think that this was a great idea. I’m subscribed to your blog, too– so chatter on, my friend. I’ll stop by often.
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You did it, yay! I’m wondering what I would score. Probably average. That’s the story of my life.
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Margaret, thanks. I wish that I’d saved the link to this test. But it was a long time ago and I was taking it while researching something entirely different than blog topics. At least, if you got average you’d be normal. Me? Can’t even make it to average! 😉
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Congratulations on getting through! The hardest thing for me is posting something when I have nothing to say but it’s good to get back in the habit of writing, and thinking, again. I will be here to read when you want to post,
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Congratulations!!!! Yay NaBloPoMo is over. I can’t believe it. I can’t wait to NOT post tomorrow. haha – Interesting about the 6 on the survey…. Ms. Cloistered nun 😉 I love that picture up at the top with seeing things with a new perspective. Very cool.
I feel like in doing this little project, I’ve learned a lot about myself and determination to do something even when you think that there’s nothing to even talk about. Did you find that?
Anyway – I am so happy to have found you & this blog – very awesome job, lady!
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Zazzy, I agree with you that having nothing to say, but still finding something to write about, is tricky. I’d really rather say nothing, but once in this madness, I babbled.
Katie, I did find that because I was determined to finish this project I paid so much more attention to every little thing that I did each day. While I’m all about living in the moment (in theory), doing it all the time (in practice) was a bit too close to the crazy line for me.
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I will miss your daily blogs! What a great thing to have done. It is kind of like writing in a daily journal. I don’t write every day, though–just a few times a week. But it sure has come in handy when trying to remember what happened when.
I’ve always said that you are a very interesting person and can express yourself so well in your writing. Keep it up!
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Beth, happy that I did this. Happy that it is over. Glad that I got to meet some new-to-me bloggers along the way. Fun to talk with irl friends about topics here. Thanks for reading along.
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I’ve enjoyed reading your posts this month. I’m glad I found your blog through NaBloPoMo (actually I think you found me first) and I look forward to reading your posts done on real time, as and when, not the speeded up version of this month’s project. Polly
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Hi Polly, I’ve had a good time reading your posts, too. I like your comment about writing in real time and not on a speeded up schedule. That really is what posting during NaBloPoMo is all about, isn’t it?
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Well congratulations! I kind of felt like we all waffled a few days here and there but ultimately we actually finished the darn thing (I’ll be writing today’s post on my blog in a few minutes)! I’m so glad that you found me and I’ve really enjoyed what you’ve written and of course I will keep reading (whatever and whenever you care to write)! Good luck! 🙂
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Kristen, I think you’re right about the waffling, but in the end we did it. Somehow. Thanks for stopping by and I’ll be keeping up with you, too. Interesting adventure, eh?
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Well done, ally! I try to blog five days a week but at the same time I try not put too much pressure on myself to do so. Committing so publicly to posting something every singe day for a month is a lot of pressure and I admire your stick-to-it-ness ( I actually admire all of you who signed up for it.). Again, well done, ally! 🙂
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Thanks la p. I’ve never tried anything like this before. It was good to do, but there was a weird sort of pressure to do what I said that I’d do. I’ll be happy to go back to my more “lazy” approach to posting.
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