I’m conflicted.

When is announcing your accomplishments totally freaking tacky – and when is it legitimate, and good? We should celebrate the things we’ve gotten or done, right?  – or should we remember our manners, and not toot our own horns?

Meh. I sound like Carrie Bradshaw, how I pontificate*.  I couldn’t help but wonder – When is a sock – just a sock?  If there was no room for my hairdryer – was there room for my heart?

Grand pontificating aside – I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I keep coming back to a this public speaking coach that came to speak the women’s project once – I had to leave early, but I did catch the part about how women are always apologizing for themselves and terrified of seeming arrogant. I totally, totally do this. I’d so much rather be the humble meek thing than the brash arrogant thing, which mayhaps keeps me being proud of what I’ve done?

ALSO – a friend of mine raised this point – if you get an award or something – it’s perhaps WORSE to not tell anyone about it, and let them find out on their own – because that’s drawing even more attention to it. I think there might be some truth to that.

All I know is, when I get some good news, the last thing I want to do is tell fellow playwrights, out of total fear of sounding like I’m bragging. But I guess – what’s the big deal? Shouldn’t everyone get to share their accomplishments? Or – is it legitimately more polite to not brag? Is the acting of telling itself bragging? Am I just too old fashioned? What care I for proper? I stain and break things, with frequency.

Maybe I just need to grow a pair. And / or stop pontificating**.

* Good word. Great word. I’m going to use it incorrectly. All the time.

** See what I did there?