Monday Musings

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall. Who's the fairest one of all?

Today, I've been thinking about the power of mirrors. I know, I know. It's a rather strange thing to be contemplating, but I warned you that these posts would be random!

The power of mirrors. For us, as young ladies, mirrors hold a lot of power. We don't like to admit it, but c'mon ladies....you know it's true! We wake up in the morning and are aghast to see our "morning faces", so we wash and scrub, cleanse and moisturize - and that's just to clean up! If we want to go out in public, we spend more time in front of the unmerciful mirror and "enhance our features" with makeup. Have you ever been like me and thought, "Ugh! Why doesn't my eyeshadow look right?....Eeewww! This mascara is clumping!....Whoa...too much blush. Great, I get to look like I'm in a continual state of embarrassment all day.......Hmmm...does my foundation make me look pale?.....And how dark should my eyeliner be?....Lipstick or gloss? This is taking forever......

Then, it's on to fixing our "bed head". Brushes, combs, curling irons, straightening tools, spritz and spray to hold it in place. (That is, unless we're having the dreaded "bad hair day". In that case, some of us would rather just stay home than go out looking like that!) We try something new, hoping to break out of our old hair do rut. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When you're not in a hurry and don't really care, it will work. When you are frantically rushing about in order to be ready on time, it won't. (At least, that's what happens with me!)

And that's just the top of our bodies. Then it's on to dressing. How often do we ask ourselves this question, "What should I wear?". It's not a wrong question to ask. In fact, dressing appropriately is very important! But if we were completely honest, that's not our true question. That's not what we mean. When we ask, "What should I wear?", we could attach all kinds of endings. Some stem from pure motives, others from...dare I say it?.....pride.

A list of pure motive questions would be:
-What should I wear that is modest, and will be modest in all weather conditions and standing/sitting positions?
-What should I wear that is honoring to my parents, especially my father?
-What should I wear that is a good fit for my body type? ('Cause we've all seen people wearing clothes that were NOT meant for their body shape, and no matter how much flesh it covers - it's not modest.)
-What should I wear that would encourage people to look at my countenance?
-What should I wear that would encourage other girls to dress modestly?

We could add more, but you get the point. Those should be the questions we ask, and I think for most of us, they are. However, I've noticed that too often we mix in a few other questions. Questions that stem from our feelings of pride, insecurity, peer-pressure, rejection, and fear. Questions like:
-What should I wear that will draw attention to me?
-What should I wear that will help me to fit in with everyone else?
-What should I wear that will enhance the features I'm proud of and cover the ones that make me discontent and jealous of others?
-What should I wear that will gain approval and praise from others?
-What should I wear that won't make me look fat?
-What should I wear that will make me look super cute and stylish?

Again, the list could go on. And with all of these questions whirling in our minds, we stand in front of the mirror and critique outfit number one. Then two. Then three. Then four. As the mirror has no mercy on our "trouble spots", so we don't have mercy on ourselves. And the seeds of discontentment continue to grow.

I wish I had a body like (insert name). Why do my hips look so big? This outfit isn't very stylish. My feet look huge, and these shoes aren't very cute but they were all I could find in my size. I think this shirt makes my arms look weird.

I wonder what our mirrors would say if they really could talk? Would they speak like the mirror in "Snow White", praising our beauty one day, and alerting us to anyone who had beauty that surpassed our own the next? I suspect they would tell us to stop obsessing over the reflection we see. I haven't done any calculations, but I would assume that over the course of our lives we spend thousands of hours checking and rechecking our appearance. Makeup still look fresh? Hair still holding it's style? Clothes portraying the message I want to send?

Which begs the question, "Is that wrong?". Is it wrong to be concerned about our appearance? Is it wrong to want to dress fashionably? Is it wrong to spend so much time in front of the mirror?

Where is the balance?

*To be continued....* After I hear some of your thoughts on the subject!