By Hollie Warnick
I have a child who will often look in the mirror at them self to see how they express their emotions. In a fit of tears, anger or exultant dancing, they run to the mirror to see what they look like. Like a flirt, they catch their own eyes and go deeper into the emotion, feeling out what the expression does for them. They may do a little dance, cry harder or scrunch their face.
Sometimes my children run to see how a princess or doctor costume looks on them. They try out identities, emotions, and expressions of all sorts while receiving feedback from the impartial mirror. The mirror doesn’t judge, it simply reflects. Judgment is in the eye of the beholder.
Over the years, the mirror has found a common place amongst us humans. Instead of simple reflective surfaces like a pond or body of water, we’ve evolved to have mirrors in all the spaces of our lives. We’ve perfected and even amplified their roles in our lives. They help us further our sight. They reflect our light and our darkness. They show us what we cannot simply see without them, ourselves.
Mirrors illuminate truths about ourselves externally, but often they can be used to look at our internal world as well. Our internal climate is revealed in the mirror as we dress ourselves, practice hygiene, or even by the way we hold our posture.
How often do you look in the mirror? Do you truly see yourself? Do you express yourself there?
For some of us, looking in the mirror can be a daunting task. We may not want to see what is there or hear all the judgmental chatter going through our minds. We are afraid of what we might find. I invite you to be courageous and take a look.
A positive tool for healing and growth is to spend time in the mirror saying affirmations of the goals you’d like to achieve. You can also use the mirror to reclaim your voice or body after traumatizing events. The mirror can be an encouraging place to build a relationship with yourself.
Having trouble looking in the mirror? Schedule a Behavioral Kinesiology appointment with Hollie today!