Surprisingly, a most wondrous sight
Do you ever look in the mirror?
Not just a quick check to see that you’re roughly presentable, but really look.
Me neither.
Yet perhaps there is more to see, as Augustine of Hippo suggested in the fourth century:
And men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.
+ St. Augustine, in Confessions
What could happen if we paid more attention?
I wonder, what might we see that would change us.
~ Jo Maberly’s beautiful piece On Covid, corvids and coming home to Country that I referred to yesterday is an expression of personal sight. Please give yourself the gift of sitting with her reflections for a while.
?? Bridge Builder
2 年An interesting suggestion, Sue Heatherington. When we do a body scan, it bears some resemblance to a close look in the mirror. Hello big toe, how are you today? Fine, thank you, but please do something with that nail, will you? Looking in the mirror, however, is from the outside - in a way how we think others see us. (They don't - this is a mirror. If they didn't show you yourself mirrored on Facetime or on Zoom, you would most likely freak out because you looked just wrong.) In our mind's eye, do we perceive ourselves as the person who gets judged by our surroundings? It is a vastly different exercise to check in with my nose to see if it is generally content compared to check it out for blemishes in the mirror. (How can my nose be an "it" when part of me? She?) I didn't even have to think before "blemishes" came out of the fingertips. Why do we do this to ourselves?
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2 年I've been following the 75hard program since Allison Graham talked abut her experience. One of the "daily tasks" is to look at yourself in the mirror with loving kindness. It's easier to give up sugar Sue Heatherington