Life on Planet Earth is filled with many miracles, but the one thing we will never do in this lifetime is to look upon our own face directly. If we want to see what our physical being looks like, we use a mirror. We also never truly know our soul directly. To learn about our spiritual and emotional selves, we rely on the mirror of those around us to reflect who we are.
As babies, we learn who we are through others. If our mother is loving, nurturing and patient, then we learn about our loving, nurturing and patient nature. If our mother is fearful, stressed and impatient, then those are the aspects of our nature we learn about.
As we leave infancy, our world broadens, and we continue to learn who we are through the mirror of siblings, teachers and society. A toddler learns to share from the experience of having a playmate who won’t share a favored toy. The playmate shows selfishness, and the toddler learns it doesn’t feel good.
The mirroring never stops. It happens in commonplace ways throughout our life. At any moment, feedback about who we are is readily available.
Here’s an example. You’re out shopping, feeling tired and frazzled. You need assistance but can’t find a salesperson to ask. After twenty minutes of growing agitated, you make your way to the front of the store where a long line of people wait at the checkout. You ask loudly, “Is there anybody here who can help me?” The clerk snaps back, “Excuse me, you’re going to have to wait your turn.”
You’ve been mirrored. The sales clerk responded to your anger and frustration and sent it back to you.
When used consciously, mirroring becomes a valuable tool to help us along our spiritual path. The Universe wants us to heal and be in our wholeness, so through the mirror of others, it provides clues for our healing. The first step is to be aware and notice mirrors in our life. Once our attention is drawn to the mirror, then we turn inward to see what it’s reflecting for us.
For instance, we might realize our spouse, our child, a coworker, and the person ahead of us in line at the supermarket have all acted out in anger today. That’s the first step – noticing a pattern. And since we’re wise to the spiritual law of mirroring, we understand the Universe is pointing us to look at our anger. We trust that since it was shown to us, we have it too. (A therapist friend says, “If you spot it, you got it.”)
Then we decipher the meaning. Are we refusing to acknowledge our anger about a current situation or event in our life? Or is Spirit showing us that we still have buried anger from some earlier time in our life? If we ask the questions, our inner knowing will help us find answers. From there, we take the insight we’ve gained and use it to guide us in our healing.
The mirrors that feel the most uncomfortable provide the biggest insights. They point out something we’ve buried deeply – something that if acknowledged would bring us great healing. When this happens, take a deep breath and say a prayer of gratitude for the timely gift from Spirit. If we stay present and work with what comes, we blossom into our full spiritual selves.