I found this article last week. This woman, Kjerstin Gruys, is making headlines doing the unthinkable: giving up looking in mirrors for a whole year. And my first thought was, "What is she trying to prove?".
I am tired of people taking things so far. The one thing Ms. Gruys has working for her is that she is a PhD student, thereby buying her 'research' a shred of credibility under the guise of academia, however, it does not erase, or in my mind, forgive how completely ridiculous and pointless this exercise is.
She is going to an extreme to prove what? That the image we see of ourselves affects us? No kidding! Imagine that! However, I would argue that self-image has more to do with internal perception and less to do with the superficial reflection in the mirror.
If I were to entertain Ms. Gruys' hypothesis even for a moment, I can still blow holes through her methodology: she is still wearing make-up which she refers to on her blog as a 'security blanket' and says she is proud of how proficient she has become at applying it without a mirror. Uh, what? Isn't wearing make-up just as indulgent and narcissistic as looking in a mirror? In fact, I might say it's even moreso; at least the act of looking in a mirror once in a while can be considered selfless when it prevents others from having to endure unfortunate and awkward conversations with me while remnants of the spinach salad from lunch wave from my teeth, or a bat-in-the-cave booger dangles like a daredevil at the edge of my nostril.
I think people sometimes miss the point in their fervor to forge ahead and create a new path, going too far by focusing on one thing, when it should be on something else. Sure, our society as a whole does place a lot of importance on outward appearances, but blaming a mirror is like shooting the messenger.
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