Mirror Image

 

Mirrors are great for checking our appearance. We want to know how we look. Do we look good, clean, successful, polished, presentable? Mirrors will answer all those questions, but it’s all just packaging. Some of us are wrapped in plain brown paper tied with a string. Others prefer the glitz of shiny wrapping paper and curled ribbons. Some days we don’t even bother wrapping. While outside appearances are often a reflection of what and who we are on the inside, many times there is not a clue to be had.

WYSIWUG* works when designing a website, but there’s really no way of telling anything about a person by their appearance. We’ve been warned not to judge a book by its cover, but we all know covers entice you to pick up the book or magazine. Once you open it though, it has to deliver. All show and no substance doesn’t cut it. We don’t fall for all the smoke and mirrors anymore.

So how do you portray the unseen, the the real you? Art is one way of making the soul visible but how do you know if what you are putting out there is reflective of the real you. What do people on the outside see when looking at you? All of these things came up as I worked on a new website design.

Many people design their blog or website with themselves or the people they know in mind. The real function of an online presence is to introduce yourself to people who don’t know you. According to studies, people will decide within five (yes, 5!) seconds whether to stick around or not. They will scan, not read, so visuals are extremely important and have to communicate what you are all about.

So what am I all about? I’m not particularly clear on this myself. I have a hard time settling on visuals because I am constantly changing and growing into myself. I figured it was time to step back and take a look at who I am and what I’m all about.

I needed someone on the outside to hold up a mirror for me.

Before I go any further, let me step back a bit. Everything I’m saying here is based on the premise that what you do, how you act, and the art you create is all coming from a genuine place. If you are trying to be like someone, or create art based on someone else’s vision, no one will be seeing anything clearly. Smoke and mirrors create illusion. You need to first get rid of the smoke and tarnish and polish the mirror.

The real mirror of your life and soul is your true friend.
A friend helps you glimpse who you really are and what you are doing here.
John O’Donohue

So I went searching for my mirror image. Two people appeared in my life. Not close friends, but people I had come to know through my art and online presence. One gave me what I was looking for without even knowing I was looking. The other knew exactly what I was looking for and gave me specific insight.

Some things I learned confirmed with what I already thought. Other information  gave me new insight as to how I am perceived in the world. Both were very helpful.  Yet I soon realized that the most valuable insight was something no mirror would reveal.

What is inside of us radiates and shines creating a mirror of our soul that only others can see. We can never see ourselves as others do because they are seeing us through their eyes. What and who they see is colored by their own perception, their own soul.

We can turn to others for guidance and feedback, but the only way to know ourselves and to put that into a form that others can see and understand, is to BE ourselves.

Not try to be what others see or what we want them to see.
Not try to be what we want others to think we are.
Not try to be anything but who and how we are right here, right now.

The more certain and comfortable you are with who you are, the more light you shine on others. You become their mirror.

There are two ways of spreading light:
to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton

No light, no mirror image.