Mirror is a wonderful thing. With its ability to reflect light almost perfectly, we can get a glimpse of what we look like from the outside, as if someone else was watching us. And at the same time, nobody really watches us; there’s only us and our mirror image.
Of course, video cameras are better and don’t suffer from the flipped sides problem, but they’re surely a lot more complicated. The mirror, in its simplicity, is capable of doing the same thing with just a bit of practical application of physics.
Yet for most people, this simple device is one of their worst fears. For those not used to it, seeing what they really look like is not a pleasant surprise. It gets better with time, and we look into the mirror quite often, but the first time we do, our reaction is not unlike the reaction of most animals – take cats for example. They hiss, get all fluffy and angry...
We don’t get fluffy, we don’t actually hiss and we mostly don’t get angry, but it is still somewhat similar.
But that’s just a minor problem. Most people get used to the way they look, they get to like it, and if they don’t, they can at least find some room for improvement. Nothing is lost and the way we look can be changed with just a little bit of effort and a pair of skilled hands.
For those unsure about the skill of their hands, trained specialists are the best choice. For getting one’s hair cut, it’s always the best choice. Cutting one’s own hair is one of the signs of madness, and I’m not talking about Britney Spears, I knew this long before she started... that.
So when does the mirror become a serious problem? Exactly the day when we realize we don’t know the person we see there. Or don’t want to know him.
It has happened to everyone. You wake up the morning after a party, sure you had a great time, the food was delicious, the drinks were numerous, music was loud but good... But here comes the hangover. And if not the hangover, you sure don’t look your best the morning after a great party.
There are a couple of old advices that help fight hangovers, but there are other times when we are completely helpless.
It needn’t be some sort of serious amnesia. Most people are well aware of who they are and how they got there. If you get woken up at three o’clock in the morning, you’re going to swear a lot, but you’re going to remember your name. Or you should, unless you’ve just been to a great party and are... tired.
But what if you really don’t know how you got where you are now? What if you don’t really know how you became the person you are? What if you look in the mirror and see a stranger?
This has also happened to almost everyone. In our teens, things change fast. Really fast. New thoughts, new fashion, new music, new opinions, new possibilities, new options, new responsibilities, new relationships, new actions, new consequences, new ways of spending free time, new ways of not spending free time...
Lots of new things, and soon you don’t know left from right, just like the guy in the mirror. It might take a couple of years, but you get used to it and things settle down. Or they don’t, but if you prefer it that way, that’s just as great.
But some people, not necessarily in their teens, not necessarily confused, can get somewhere they never wanted to be. And it can happen way too fast. Faster than Q from Star Trek can snap his fingers, that is.
I personally know someone who, at least in my opinion, got somewhere where he never wanted to be. And no one really knows what happened. One thing led to another, as they say, and suddenly – a problem. A bunch of them. Maybe a large heap of red-hot problems.
You get the idea.
Looking into the mirror, getting beyond the skin and into the brain and heart, I’m seriously worried about what this person can find there.
I don’t think he will find the person he expects there, or hopes to find there. That person got buried under that steaming mountain of problems that came out of nowhere, like an avalanche in Malibu.
But I still believe that if there is one thing to do, it is hanging on to hope. Hope is a wonderful thing. You won’t find an atom of hope, a molecule of love, a fragment of faith, but still those things build the universe we live in.
While the person in the mirror might look like a stranger today, he is not from some distant planet. He does not speak some long forgotten language. He is just an ordinary person, just with his left and right hand confused.
And as with any other stranger, with patience and good intentions, we can get to know him. It might take a while, as digging through layers of problems always takes a lot longer than it took hoarding them all up, but in the end, no attempt, no matter how small, will be futile.
Just reaching out and getting in touch with the stranger in the mirror might be enough. And if not, it’s the first step on a road that leads to the inner peace that everyone is looking for so hard, but no one really knows that he was carrying it with him right from the start.
Of course, video cameras are better and don’t suffer from the flipped sides problem, but they’re surely a lot more complicated. The mirror, in its simplicity, is capable of doing the same thing with just a bit of practical application of physics.
Yet for most people, this simple device is one of their worst fears. For those not used to it, seeing what they really look like is not a pleasant surprise. It gets better with time, and we look into the mirror quite often, but the first time we do, our reaction is not unlike the reaction of most animals – take cats for example. They hiss, get all fluffy and angry...
We don’t get fluffy, we don’t actually hiss and we mostly don’t get angry, but it is still somewhat similar.
But that’s just a minor problem. Most people get used to the way they look, they get to like it, and if they don’t, they can at least find some room for improvement. Nothing is lost and the way we look can be changed with just a little bit of effort and a pair of skilled hands.
For those unsure about the skill of their hands, trained specialists are the best choice. For getting one’s hair cut, it’s always the best choice. Cutting one’s own hair is one of the signs of madness, and I’m not talking about Britney Spears, I knew this long before she started... that.
So when does the mirror become a serious problem? Exactly the day when we realize we don’t know the person we see there. Or don’t want to know him.
It has happened to everyone. You wake up the morning after a party, sure you had a great time, the food was delicious, the drinks were numerous, music was loud but good... But here comes the hangover. And if not the hangover, you sure don’t look your best the morning after a great party.
There are a couple of old advices that help fight hangovers, but there are other times when we are completely helpless.
It needn’t be some sort of serious amnesia. Most people are well aware of who they are and how they got there. If you get woken up at three o’clock in the morning, you’re going to swear a lot, but you’re going to remember your name. Or you should, unless you’ve just been to a great party and are... tired.
But what if you really don’t know how you got where you are now? What if you don’t really know how you became the person you are? What if you look in the mirror and see a stranger?
This has also happened to almost everyone. In our teens, things change fast. Really fast. New thoughts, new fashion, new music, new opinions, new possibilities, new options, new responsibilities, new relationships, new actions, new consequences, new ways of spending free time, new ways of not spending free time...
Lots of new things, and soon you don’t know left from right, just like the guy in the mirror. It might take a couple of years, but you get used to it and things settle down. Or they don’t, but if you prefer it that way, that’s just as great.
But some people, not necessarily in their teens, not necessarily confused, can get somewhere they never wanted to be. And it can happen way too fast. Faster than Q from Star Trek can snap his fingers, that is.
I personally know someone who, at least in my opinion, got somewhere where he never wanted to be. And no one really knows what happened. One thing led to another, as they say, and suddenly – a problem. A bunch of them. Maybe a large heap of red-hot problems.
You get the idea.
Looking into the mirror, getting beyond the skin and into the brain and heart, I’m seriously worried about what this person can find there.
I don’t think he will find the person he expects there, or hopes to find there. That person got buried under that steaming mountain of problems that came out of nowhere, like an avalanche in Malibu.
But I still believe that if there is one thing to do, it is hanging on to hope. Hope is a wonderful thing. You won’t find an atom of hope, a molecule of love, a fragment of faith, but still those things build the universe we live in.
While the person in the mirror might look like a stranger today, he is not from some distant planet. He does not speak some long forgotten language. He is just an ordinary person, just with his left and right hand confused.
And as with any other stranger, with patience and good intentions, we can get to know him. It might take a while, as digging through layers of problems always takes a lot longer than it took hoarding them all up, but in the end, no attempt, no matter how small, will be futile.
Just reaching out and getting in touch with the stranger in the mirror might be enough. And if not, it’s the first step on a road that leads to the inner peace that everyone is looking for so hard, but no one really knows that he was carrying it with him right from the start.
