First Person Singular
Seeing through mirrors to our true selves

ALEX BOYLES/Poca High School

By A.J. Wiseman
Sissonville High School

According to Merriam Webster, a mirror is “a polished, smooth surface that gives a true representation and is an exemplary model of what is being reflected.” We all depend on mirrors as an essential part of our daily routine. Without the constant ability to adjust and examine ourselves, we often feel uncomfortable, as though we just walked into a crowded room after getting dressed in the dark.

This thin sheet of polished glass determines how we view ourselves on a daily basis and often affects our self-esteem, yet it only shows the surface of a complex person. Is this sheet of glass really all its cracked up to be? Do we ever look beyond its surface to see ourselves clearly?

As I pondered this, the following thought came to me: Why is it that the people closest to us, such as our friends and family, always seem to see us in the best light and see us from the inside out, while we see ourselves every day and know who we are inside yet never see ourselves clearly?

Recently, I was late for school and looked nothing short of haggard but I had a great day regardless. I left for school feeling inadequate and uncomfortable, but the second I arrived and began talking to my friends, I forgot those feelings. I forgot them because true friends are your friends no matter how you look or what you are going through.

For as long as I can remember, I thought I had to fit a certain mold in order for people to like me. I thought that if I wore nice clothes and looked clean, then my friends would accept me, respect me and continue to be my friend. That daily look in the mirror boosted my confidence because I knew I had no reason to feel inadequate.

It’s amazing that even though we know ourselves better than anyone, we are still superficial enough to think that we have to do this for our friends to like us. I’ve begun to realize that no matter how I look, I am still the same person. No one will think differently of me if I don’t dress to impress on a daily basis.

With this newfound confidence and comfort, I have begun to see my once beloved mirror in a new way. Is it a friend or an enemy? Perhaps it’s the classic frenemy — it always seems to be a friend on the day you look amazing and an enemy on the day it helps point out that new zit.

The superstition goes that if you break a mirror, you have cursed yourself with seven years bad luck. But perhaps if you break a mirror, you will learn to be comfortable with yourself without it.

In today’s society, we look outside ourselves for acceptance and approval far too often, and we keep forgetting that before we can be comfortable with others, we have to be comfortable with ourselves. My friends are not my friends because of what they see but because of what they know, and I know that now.

Maybe one day someone will make a mirror that reflects who we are as people, but until that day, we have to know that, regardless of what we see in that mirror, who we are is good enough.