Today I saw myself.
You probably saw yourself today, too. We see ourselves often–everytime we look in the mirror. What’s interesting to me about my reflection is that it’s not actually what other people see when they look at me. It’s the inverse. My face is flipped.
We cannot look in the mirror and see exactly what others see when they look at us.
I can see myself in pictures the way others see me, but only for a moment in time.
Isn’t that interesting? We will never see ourselves the way others see us.
This is true not just in the physical reflection, but in essence as well. I will never be fully known to another person that they may see me the way I see myself. I don’t think this is necessarily bad, but it’s a good reminder of what to expect in relationships. Everyone we encounter sees us differently. They notice different things about our physical appearances, personalities, temperaments, interests, and work. They see our leadership qualities, emotions, and skills through their own lens instead of ours. Hopefully, it’s a positive lens through which they’re looking! But maybe not. Not always at least.
Not being able to see myself as I am and instead seeing only my reflection has me wondering… How would our world be different if we didn’t have mirrors and couldn’t see ourselves? Clearly we weren’t designed to see ourselves. The limitations of our eyesight and contortions of our bodies make this a fact. If God had wanted us to see ourselves, surely he would have changed something, right?
How would your life be different if you didn’t have the ability to see your own reflection?
If you had no clue what you looked like?
If you didn’t care what you looked like?
I can assume we would spend a lot less time and money on our appearances. I think our insecurities would be less. We would probably judge others less. Imagine a world where there is no obsession with appearances. I’m not sure what that would look like.
I’m not suggesting we get rid of mirrors and never look at ourselves again. It’s just an interesting thing to think about how much our reflections rule our lives when they are a man made creation and have no bearing on who we truly are.
Today I saw myself. But not really. I saw a reflection of what I look like, but not who I truly am.
