Not too long ago, someone I love looked into the mirror and told me, “The mirror is the purest way in which we will ever see ourselves.”
To clarify, he went on to explain that he was more focused on what the mirror showed about the world around him, however, what he said really weighed on me. With emphasis on beauty all around us, does the mirror really show us the truth about what we look like?
In simple terms, a mirror is a pane of glass that shows us our physical reflection, but does it really dictate what we see? Have you, or someone you know, ever looked in the mirror and firstly focused on flaws? Have you ever looked in the mirror and wished you were seeing something else? Have you ever not recognized the face staring back at you?
It’s true that we all have things we don’t like about our appearances, but those little flaws can easily become consuming. People with BDD, body dysmorphic disorder, think about the things they hate about their body for hours everyday. Their perception of their reflection becomes skewed. This can lead to very sad consequences like social anxiety, depression and eating disorders. I would know, I myself suffered from an eating disorder in high school. I went through many years of thinking I was over it, only to have my perception of how awful my body looked pull me right back into the disorder. I hated the mirror, but I couldn’t look away.
So if we don’t like what we see in our reflection, how can we help silence those damaging thoughts? The truth is, no one process will work for everyone. Some people need positive reinforcement from others close to them. Some people might prefer to talk to a neutral party, like a teacher or a counselor. Something that helped me work towards healthier self-talk was speaking to myself like a friend. Whenever I’d look in the mirror and think that I was huge or grotesque, I would think, “Would say these things to my best friend? Of course not. So why should I say them to myself?” I feel blessed to be able to say that everyday I am working on building a healthier self-image. There are days when I still struggle, but I know that every smile I allow myself brings me that much closer.
So is the mirror really all that powerful? When broken down, the mirror is just glass. It lets our eyes see a reflected image. What our minds do to that image can be scary, it can be damaging, but it can also be empowering.
And if you need to hear it now, I just want to say that you are so much more than beautiful. You are so much more than what you are in this moment. You are so much more.
Stay empowered, ladies!