Look around you. That's right, take a good look around you. Unless you are visually-impaired or you lead a rugged, comfort-less existence out in the woods somewhere, then, while just having looked around, you probably saw a mirrored surface, something in which you saw a reflection of yourself having a look around. We surround ourselves these days with high-gloss, shiny, or mirrored items, with laptops, automobiles, mobile phones, tablet computers, windows, watch-faces, doors, door-handles, hubcaps, handlebars, plates, pots, spoons, and eyeglasses, to name a few. Oh the many mirrors one can gaze longingly into, losing oneself in the strangely hypnotic activity of making eye-contact with oneself. So is its profusion, and such is its commonality, that we can hardly imagine life without the mirror.
Consider, however, that just a few hundred years ago the primary reflective material was a calm surface of water, which only reflects well under optimal conditions and which requires the viewer to suspend himself over it to the point that objects start falling from his pockets and fluids start dripping from his face. Ancient societies understood the dangers of self-observation; their stories include a cautionary tale about a young man named Narcissus who so loved looking at his own reflection that he dove into a pond in an attempt to capture it, whereupon he was promptly ensnared and drowned by pond-nymphs. (I believe that the tale of Narcissus is meant to be taken as a warning of the dangers of getting caught in the tractor-beam of one's own reflection.) It wasn't until the Industrial Revolution that many people could afford mirrors or, for that matter, glass; before the 18th century, the few persons who could afford mirrors were fantastically rich individuals who were often so corrupt and so cruel that we wishe they'd have stared at their own reflections more often instead of eradicating villages and enslaving and torturing their own subjects. (The myth about seven years of bad luck resulting from a broken mirror probably dates to before the Industrial Revolution, when portable reflective objects were prohibitively expensive.)
Are we, today, better off for having mirrors everywhere, or can mirrors be blamed in part for our current theory of rational-selfishness (i.e. avarice), that wasteful, ego-centric, quasi-capitalistic economic system that drains our lives of its intrinsic value and imprisons our hearts in shells of self-serving egotism, rendering us incapable of respecting ourselves, each other, and Nature? I find it logical to assume that staring constantly at our own reflections reinforces the notion that we must first look out for ourselves, for Numero Uno, before sacrificing our time or money for the good of other people. Since beginning to ponder these questions, I have looked at my reflection only when necessary, such as when shaving my face or checking for ticks, avoiding even a sidelong glance into a mirror; when I do stop to look, I am often shocked to see the face I have come to associate with myself staring back at me, an image which correspond but poorly to the ebullient spirit burning deeply within my loins. The crux of the matter is this: mirrors disassociate the self from its tender humanity, from its intrinsic goodness; the act fuels and facilitates the ego's ability to hijack the soul, which results in greedy, self-righteous, and short-sighted behavior such as conspicuous consumption and self-banishment into wage-slavery. Therefore, dear friend, please avoid a mirror today, and rescue your soul from the ego's sticky clutches. Mahalo.
場黑麥 mentiri factorem fecit
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