I have just started reading a fascinating new book called about FACE. Basically it is a collection of essays from 23 different women (all different ages and backgrounds). They simply say what they see when they take a good hard look in the mirror. I've stopped for now on the third essay to write this post. I was surprised by the way these essays are actually written. I'm not quite sure why, but I thought they were just going to literally be discussing every detail of their face (now that I think about it that would be an awful book). But no, instead they are all completely different from each other and generally provide anecdotes that illustrate how the way they saw themselves at a particular point in their lives directly affected how life went for them at that time. (It's kind of hard to explain and I still have 20 essays to go so I could be entirely wrong).
BUT, the reason I paused! In the third essay she said something that just hit me. This was in Kathryn Harrison's essay and she said "I have never seen, and will never see, the real me". She is referring to the fact that our reflection is not actually what we look like at all, so in reality we never in our whole lives will see what we look like live and in person. This revelation had a strange effect on me. It's quite freeing, while at the same time making you feel very helpless and also like you've wasted so much effort in the past. The best part was that they explained that the way mirrors reflect light makes it so the image you see is actually a duller, lesser version of what you really look like. How awesome is that?!
What am I taking away from this? Well, in the past I have readied myself for the day feeling confident and then halfway through I'll see my reflection, be immediately disappointed and then feel entirely self conscious for the rest of the day. Enough! So I am resolved to look in the mirror and say, "you don't do the real me justice".
Post-it Phrase of the Day: "Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create that fact."
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