They say a picture is worth a thousand words. When we look in the mirror and see our reflection, how many words are we worth?
There was a time when early in the morning, before sound would make its way throughout the neighborhood streets, I would stare in wonder at the thing that always looked back at me and copied my movements. I faced another world with a glassy stare, and the door to get there was made of glass. Toothpaste slowly leaks off my chin, and I kill the silence by turning the knobs on the sink, letting a stream of water run as thoughts run all over my mind.
After splashing my face with cold water, I still couldn’t wash away the unknown. I felt no different than the image on the other side of the glass gateway. I thought about how I was not meant to fit in, just like the reflection in his world. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I couldn’t describe my significance in one word. That is until I discovered it wasn’t about matching my reflection with others but appreciating my own.
We reflect what lives in our soul
The truth eventually comes to light. The things we hide away in dark places get revealed by the reflections we give off when outside factors stimulate them. No matter how good we are at hiding what we might be ashamed of, eventually, in some shape or form, it leaks out of the pores of our consciousness.
A closet can only hold so much before everything comes tumbling out. Instead of finding ways to take what bothers us and stuff it in the closet, that time could have been used to dissect the origins of where our monsters were birthed. This is a part of ourselves we will eventually have to face. When we face that monster in the mirror, behind all the ugliness of it, we find that the monster is us with a collection of unstable emotions, a lack of healing and discipline, and ignorance.
Sheets of glass are the tale bearers of the truth. That means we can’t break it. To try to break a truth is to strengthen lies, and to strengthen lies is to become unrecognizable in who we are.
What we reflect from our soul is our painting
Our thoughts funneled through our vocal cords to how we articulate ourselves show a glimpse into our nature of being. Our thought process is based on influences we accept in our reflection. Music, movies and other media outlets are mirrors placed all around us in society.
Everything is already branded with its slogan, and every business has an agenda. We pay attention to the outside noise more than the beauty inside ourselves. It’s one thing to draw inspiration from outside influences. It’s another to erase what can be good in us.
It is easy to understand why so many people walk around confused when they spend most of the day looking into other mirrors. That will cause constant comparison, and we will never be happy with what we do.
If there is a detail on our painting we don’t like, we can paint on a new canvas because who said we have to carry that one portrait for the rest of our lives? It’s never too late to recreate our image. At times the brush may feel too heavy, but it’s not the brush that got heavier it’s the fear. The fear of looking in the mirror and being critical of ourselves.
It doesn’t have to be scary to look at our blemishes. It’s what makes us who we are. If we had no mirrors, how would we know how we look? Don’t you want to know how you look? It should never be a question someone has to think about answering. The whole purpose of this life is to find what is in ourselves.
Walk away from the mirror with a new reflection
The answer to one of the most head-aching questions is already in front of us. We have to see through ourselves with a different perspective. Don’t look past the glass reflective door to bottles of medicine that can alleviate ourselves by reversing the addictive qualities we developed through the drugs we relied on for self-acceptance. Some drugs are variants of coping mechanisms sourced from self-pity and ignorance.
From the moment we are delivered from the womb, we are painted with streaks of the world that are out of our control until we are aware of right and wrong. By then, the streaks of our cultures, traditions, and habits are normal to us because the colors have set in. We believe that we are that painting when most colors are not what we choose them to be.
We are the words we write within ourselves
There was a time I would let the faucet water run in the sink, hoping to drown my thoughts of what I thought was wrong with me. But it would never work because you can’t drown what doesn’t need to breathe. However, because we are so blessed beyond words, we can take control of our thoughts and tell ourselves that we have a purpose.
That reflection we see doesn’t have to fit in with what we had to grow up around. The mirror is not your enemy. Don’t run from it or hide it in a closet. Look at your reflection and accept it, change what you think needs to be groomed or removed, and share that beautiful image with the world so we can appreciate the grander reflection of life.
