one month without a mirror
when? August 1 – August 31, 2012… if all goes well.
why?
It started with a
simple thought: how and when did the mirror become a staple in bathroom
appliances, at least in our Western culture? And what impact does the mirror
have on my own life, positive or negative?
As
I’ve mused over these simple thoughts, I’ve begun to realize how much I use
mirrors throughout the day. And
when I am at a location where there is no mirror over the sink, my routine of
washing my hands while gazing into my own eyes is strangely off balance. What is that? My own narcissism? A need
to self-evaluate my external appearance and gain confidence from that? Simply
an absentminded habit? I’d like to
explore that.
So,
I’m trying something uncomfortable: ridding myself of mirrors for a month. My
intention is to stir my norm and see what emerges.
psh, seen it! If you feel like you’ve seen
this done before, you probably have.
And probably in a more sophisticated way than I am about to do it. Google “a month without mirrors” and
you’ll get at least a few blogs to start with. Notably, I’d like to reference one woman who embarked on
this “mirror fast,” as she calls it, and I think has very intelligent thoughts
to begin with.
A
quote I love,
I wouldn’t exactly say I’m
“face checking” myself, but most of the time when I’m looking in the mirror,
I’m not merely looking for stray eyelashes. I’m looking for confirmation that I
look good enough that I needn’t be anxious about my appearance—not at any given
moment, but in perpetuity. In other words: I am asking the mirror to free me
from being absorbed with my looks.
Do
read her post full post here
what to expect. I want this to not merely be a test of
self-control, but an opportunity for self-reflection and learning. As part of
that journey and as a replacement for an image of myself in a mirror, I will
draw a self-portrait each day.
Those will be posted here.
I will
be blogging about this experiment in order to hold myself accountable and to
engage others in the dialogue. My
fear is that by blogging, I perpetuate the need to reflect myself somewhere
into the world, or continue to have a controlled self-image projected to the
public. I have very mixed feelings
about blogging, but still feel there is something to it.
So, I
hope to continue to keep this upcoming month’s posts primarily visual. I also hope that achieves some sort of
balance, or gets closer to it.
who me? With that, please feel free to share your thoughts! Your feedback,
reactions, criticisms, and suggestions will be very welcome.
rules? Mirrors, reflective things, and cameras are everywhere; this will
not be a perfect experiment. I
doubt I can actually go a month without seeing myself. A few guidelines I will
attempt to hold myself to:
o When in a public restroom,
attempt to avoid eye contact with the mirror
o In the case of pictures, I
don’t have a hard and fast rule. I
just want to wait to look at any pictures of myself until at least the
following day—when that appearance is no longer relevant to the present moment
o When my appearance/first
impression has a lasting impact, such as for an interview, I will make an
exception and use a mirror for a short interval of time. This is not
anticipated but a possibility for this month.
o When make-up is rendered
necessary in order to look profession/awake, a small cosmetic mirror will be
used. (this isn’t an experiment
about not wearing makeup, but about not being surrounded by my reflection)
But Sara! what if…?
o …there is a giant zit on your
face that needs to be popped?
o …a bug flies into your eye, and
you can’t get it out?
o …you eat spinach and then corn-on-the-cob
and then pineapple and can’t tell if you have food stuck in your teeth?
o …you’re biking somewhere and
get sweaty nasty and have no way of cleaning yourself up?
Well
friends, I have no idea. I’m just going to go for it and see what happens. 3
So,
with that, here goes nothing! The mirrors in my apartment are covered.
And so, day one drawings below:
