Can You See Me?

I’ve often wondered why it is that the only face we are never able to see in person, is our own. We are familiar with our countenance only by reflection and touch, spending our entire lives primping, criticizing, and pondering our faces in reverse. And, when we see ourselves in a photo, we see a stranger. Everything is on the wrong side of the image compared to the person in the mirror.

What does the universe have in mind by handing us this tool of deception? Is it a cruel trick of some frantic fourth dimension? Are we unable to view ourselves if we know our own consciousness? It’s a question for philosophers and artists alike.

But let’s look at it in a different light.

Our brains, in fact see through our eyes and our eyes bring in the images of the world upside down. (Looks like there’s more to this inversion than first thought?) Then it rights it again, and through experience, tells our brains what we need to know about it. We follow a primal code, built into our cells, to see things not as they are, in order to see them as they are.

You know where I’m going with this. Yep, the true way to see things is not to worry too much about how they look at first glance. Take each idea, each experience, each image and notion and turn it over and over again, trying hard to make patterns out of what seems familiar and see if there isn’t something we’ve missed in our haste to judge ourselves, and the world.

May’s theme is suggests that you get more courage from reflection. And I submit that the lack of courage is because we feel that everything is whole and perfect except ourselves. We feel that to move forward and be brave means moving into a realm of mystery and uncertainty because we can’t see it whole from our perspective. But if we apply the logic I have offered above, we see that nothing is solid. It is all an apparition that we can mold and fashion into the life we want. By reflecting on all things we begin to see that courage isn’t something to overcome, it is something to use as a lens; a lens that brings joy and adventure into true focus.

Go ahead, lift a glass, make your way here, and see yourself in the reflection of friendship, connection and wine!