Using mirrors the right way.

The wrong way…

Simply put, the wrong way is to look at it alone. Just you and the mirror. I’m sure there is that lone star out there, like my father, who loves to look at themselves in the mirror – oohing and ahhing at the prettiness.

(I’m not kidding about my dad. Without fail, the man looks in the mirror every morning and then remarks out loud about how handsome he is.)

But, the rest of us, well…we typically look and dissect and pick ourselves apart. Flaw after flaw pops out before our eyes. Our reflection becomes a punching bag.

The right way…

Yesterday, I spoke to one of my very best friends from high school. We’d lost touch in our 20’s when we were both busy, well, being 20 something. You know – that busy, wild, independent, selfish, scary and exciting time of real jobs, real romances, real apartments – actually living like an adult with the 20 something excuse that allows you to still fuck up at will.

Anywho, we’ve finally gotten back in touch – and we talked for a long time last night, taking turns telling the story of our last 15 years. As each of us finished, the other, of course, reflected back our thoughts and feelings about what our friend had gone through and where she was today.

It’s my M.O. to deflect compliments, but as I finished telling her about my life right now – and she reflected it back to me, thriling about bits and pieces including the fact that I was still writing (she was a big fan of my teenage writing, back in the day) – I couldn’t help but smile.

My reflection and the image that appeared in this mirror looked pretty good. So it got me thinking that maybe, just maybe there’s something to picking the right mirror. Maybe that’s the trick. Snow White’s Wicked Queen figured that out a long time ago, right?

Mirrors, it turns out, are subjective. And, we get to look in whichever direction we choose.

Image credit: The Alieness