What Do You See In The Mirror?

reply to post by MagesticEsoteric


Hey there!

A nice little subject matter here...
what do you see in the mirror... you know, once upon a time in my life (and i'm not that old/physically ^^ mentally I feel much older) I looked into the mirror and I too also felt the way you did... something about it was not quite right, something about the reflection in the mirror didn't belong.

As we all age and grow during our times from young - old, we begin to see great changes in our physical bodies; some drastic and some barely noticeable. The endless cycle we go through to keep up with fashion, trends and the latest hair styles. I've been through many physical stages/phases from having short hair, long hair, coloured hair, no hair, even mowhawk

It didn't make a big difference to me as how I presented myself (I thought at the time) people can think/judge and believe what they want, they would never truly know me unless they had made an effort to.. I think 'hair' does somewhat play a big part of our ego/physical aspect as how we choose to present ourselves...
That being said, it is not IMPORTANT in the end.. things come and go, nothing ever remains the same and we are never truly the same person we first started out to be (this is the best part).

We can at times become attach to illusions, thinking that nothing will ever change, we will be a certain someone carrying a certain persona (mask) for a period of time... having certain beliefs, possessions, friends, even partners and family. We have our EGO vs our SOUL, it is hard to make sense of what you see in the mirror; most people assume they are their bodies, their names, their job, a son/daughter to their parents, a 'somebody', a 'someone' but ultimately we are only a reflection of each other (prob a bit to take in)..

Life is ever changing, as too our minds/bodies; as we go through the next chapters of our lives, we begin to let go of our old self. Do not be alarmed/scared/worried/frightened that you do not recognise the person in the mirror reflecting back at you... the person looking back at you isn't bound by the physical limitations but rather what's deep within you. Smile back at the mirror, look at yourself and acknowledge that "this is apart of you" and it is "not you" or who you truly are inside.

Maybe too, you could be feeling unhappy? perhaps there are areas in your life which you could improve on, but deny it... they say our physical bodies reflect who we are on the inside, and if you are not happy with yourself on the outside that means that you are probably missing certain aspects in your life that maybe could be face & dealt with. It's not easy, the journey to "re-discover" yourself (true self) and to let go of what you are limited by in front of the mirror.

(Hope it doesn't sound like I'm preaching here ) just speaking from personal experience) So, in the end to answer the question.. When I look into the mirror I see a person, a body, inherited with genes from my family/parents.. But I also know that I am not my physical body and "life is ever changing" I am happy for being exactly the way I am, not because I am super good looking (which I am not), or if i've got a stunning smile (which I do not), or a nice set of hair (nopes), or all the b.s things that don't matter... it's because I accept myself, and appreciate that I am. Simply thankful to the experience I am receiving through this physical body, even though at times can be followed by some anxiety and self conscious at why people are staring my direction (still working to see past this hehe)

Just know 1 thing, NO ONE/NOTHING is PERFECT (not in this physical realm anyways)
we ourselves at times forget, we forget that we are more than our physical body =))

reply to post by MagesticEsoteric


But,it is all true!
On this board and in life,you have to have a sense
of humor.

Originally posted by Oozii
When you look at yourself in the mirror, all you see is the outside. You don't see the inner you. The inner beauty, the goodness of you, the goodwill you have, the things that make you, well you. Someone can be the most beautiful person, and portray to be the most caring and loving on the outside, but without having those on the inside, it's all just a bluff.

Never judge a book by it's cover, and always know that the outside image isn't everything.

beautifully written, couldn't agree more with you =)

reply to post by Greensage


I completely understand what you are trying to say but, what I feel sometimes isn't so much that I don't recognized my reflection due to aging and changes. I've always carried this feeling with me since I was a young girl...I recall times as young as 5 or 6 sitting in front of the mirror and wondering why I didn't feel like I was looking back at myself. Hopefully it makes sense but it really is sort of hard to explain a feeling that I myself can't quite figure out.

Thanks for input though...your 5 am comment cracked me up.

reply to post by p0rkytso


Thanks for your adding your input. It's a little different than just not recognizing my reflection due to physical changes. I've felt this way for a very long time though...early childhood.

Obviously I don't think I'm aesthetically perfect because no one really is and it is only the perception of others that determines how attractive or unattractive we are as people anyway. I don't consider myself to be unattractive and have been told by many people over the course of my life that I am very much an attractive woman.

So, it's not that I am unhappy with what I see when I look in the mirror. I just have never been able to really recognize my reflection as that of my own. Does that make any sense?

I suppose that is why I started this thread b/c I wanted to see if anyone else has ever felt this way for as long as I have. Thanks again.

reply to post by mamabeth


Jeez, do I agree with you on that one! The world could possibly be a different place if people had a little more sense of humor.

I've always been the first to laugh at myself when I do really dumb things b/c I've always felt that if you can't laugh at yourself then, you'll never have thick enough skin to make it in this world.

I too, feel that my face is not my face... even the eyes- weird. in my reflection I see a stranger. who am I? what should I look like? what would I look like body-less? sometimes I like the reflection i see, sometimes I get critical of it but the feeling of foreignness in the reflection still doesn't go away. perhaps because our bodies are just vehicles like the cars we drive, nothing more.