Mirrors

In my human behavior class, we talked about sensation and perception. Sensation provides the information that perception constructs into our experiences. For all of our senses, a stimulus from our environment triggers a receptor that allows us to perceive that sensation. This information is then processed and cognitively organized into a meaningful experience.

When light, the stimulus, hits the smooth surface of a mirror, it bounces back at the same angle and is reflected into our eyes. Our retina perceives the photons, and our optic nerve sends neural impulses, or information, from the eye to our brain.

It is a seemingly infallible process. Which is why it is strange to me how sometimes it does not feel as mechanical as it should. I’ll squint then rub my eyes, or even close and reopen them altogether. I’ll tilt my head and dim the light, walk away, and then come back. I’ll peer at the image of myself reflected in the mirror at all angles, inspecting and examining, trying to assess the reflection. The scariest part is when, a lot of the time, I’ll habitually gaze in the mirror and can not even tell what I see anymore. The information is either distorted or not there at all, and I have nothing to base my evaluation on besides confusion. It’s frightening, really, feeling as though your eyes don’t work anymore, that your vision might be failing you. And when this happens, it can feel utterly isolating.

Your eyes do work. Your brain is failing you. It is failing you in that third step, creating the meaningful experience from the information given.

When this happens, I would suggest combating this habit and avoiding mirrors completely, but that would be impractical. No matter how hard I try, it is instinctive to glance in every mirror I pass, judging myself in a sort of assessment.

What is helpful, however, is the reminder that, as much as it feels like it, we are not our bodies. Our body is simply a vessel for our soul, a vehicle within which we are experiencing the universe. As I illustrated before, it allows us to sense and perceive, a beautiful thing really. As long as we are taking care of it, maintaining its health and fulfilling its needs, it does not require constant analysis and contemplation, especially when our way of doing so is distorted.

Work on that third step. Our brains are highly plastic, and their malleability can be utilized to change the way we “see” things. Allow your eyes to receive information, but learn to process this information with grace. That is something I am striving for with you.

Love,

El.