Mirror Talk

Several weeks ago a blogging friend, Keith,
asked a thought-provoking question:
"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

The question prompted some fascinating responses,
and I've been thinking about it a lot since I read the post.

I wrote a quick response;
because, as usual,
I was chasing my tail:
"I see someone who makes me smile."

I've been working on mirror talk.
Why?

I read years ago,
maybe in Cosmopolitan, 
that females of all ages 
look at themselves in the mirror 
with harsh eyes.

They go straight to the feature or features
they dislike the most.

For me, it was always about the ears.

The kids called me Dumbo 
when I was little.

My ears stuck out; 
they still do.




<    Me at 10, shortly before heading North
      to Lansdowne House, Ontario

Donnie, Roy, and I
Atholville, New Brunswick, 1956

My parents nicknamed me 
Big Ears,
early on,
supposedly because 
I heard everything.

But I was confused ~
Dad told me stories
about how his mother 
had taped his ears 
to his head
when he was little, 
so they wouldn't stick out so much.

No matter 
how much 
I looked in the mirror
and wished differently,
those big ears 
weren't flattening 
against my head.

I secretly tried Scotch tape.
Well that worked really well!  

LOL!
I can laugh now.






The article suggested smiling at yourself in the mirror
and focusing on what you liked about yourself.
I tried, I really did!

But it wasn't until Arwen Undómiel 
hit the big screen 
in Lord of the Rings 
that I truly made peace 
with my big ears.




<   Source:  Wikia




               I did make myself look 
               at my sparkly eyes and big smile.
               And I'd tell myself 
               my eyes and smile were beautiful
               (even if I had Dumbo ears).

So when I read Keith's post
I got a wild hair
and started snapping photos
in my bathroom mirror.

Have you tried it?
It isn't easy!

But I kept snapping away
because I was going to do a post
on looking in the mirror.




What do you see when you look in the mirror?

I see many things.
But most importantly, I see
someone who makes me smile.

I have what I wanted more than anything else ~
Someone who loves me and accepts me
for exactly who I am, big ears and all.

Since reading Keith's post,
I've come across a number of things
about mirror talk.

In AARP's April 2014 magazine,
Barbara Walters tells an anecdote
about her friend Kitty Carlisle Hart.

Kitty looks in the mirror 
before going to bed and says,
"Kitty, I forgive you."
Source:  AARP The Magazine, p.77

That was powerful to read.
Now I look in the mirror and say,
"Louise, I forgive you."

Silly mistakes or profound,
it's very healing.

As I struggle with writing a memoir,
I learning to forgive myself
by talking to my mirror.

Barb, Me, Bertie, Roy, and Donnie

Fish House, Lac Seul, 1961

Maya Angelou said:
“I don't know if I continue, 
even today, always liking myself. 
But what I learned to do many years ago 
was to forgive myself. 

It is very important for every human being 
to forgive herself or himself 
because if you live, 
you will make mistakes - 
it is inevitable. 

Maya Angelou:  Source ~ Wikimedia

But once you do 
and you see the mistake, 
then you forgive yourself 
and say,

'Well, 
if I'd known better 
I'd have done better,' 
that's all. 






So you say to people 
who you think you may have injured, 
'I'm sorry,' 
and then you say to yourself, 
'I'm sorry.' 

If we all hold on to the mistake, 
we can't see our own glory in the mirror 
because we have the mistake 
between our faces and the mirror; 
we can't see what we're capable of being.

You can ask forgiveness of others, 
but in the end the real forgiveness is in one's own self." 
Source:  Facebook 

Words to take to heart
when you look in the mirror.

Oops!
See the note in the mirror?

I was so busy taking my picture

that I was late for lunch

(looked right through the note).

Oh, and that email I needed to send 
to my cousin Claire?
Yikes!

From Big Ears

to Broken Hearts,

I'm doing a lot of self talk and forgiveness

when I look in the mirror!

Source:  You Tube ~ quebecfoxtrot

If you'd like to see Keith's post,

here's a link to his blog 
Musings of an Unapologetic Dreamer.