Reflections From Other Eyes - Dear America

Dear America,

Lately, I've been dwelling on the concept of perception. How do we see others, and how do we see ourselves? I imagine most of us have wondered how we're perceived by our peers since high school. Why do we care though? Is it validation? Perhaps a tie to ego or sexual urges? I'm sure some psychologists somewhere could properly explain it.

One of the things I've toyed with as a writer is imagining how someone else perceives themselves. Have you ever looked at a person and wondered "I wonder what he/she sees when they look in a mirror?" It's a big question, I think. A lot of this great country suffers from depression, low self-esteem, loneliness, and a deep addiction to SpongeBob SquarePants re-runs (for the record: I am not a member of the latter). What a dark and terrible world some of these reflections must be.

It takes a great deal of empathy to even consider looking at the world through someone else's eyes. Do they see monsters in their reflections? Perhaps a hideous beast or a walking failure? Maybe a knight in shining armor? The options are limitless and we will likely never fully know.

Try it out next time you're out and about. What do you think that cashier at the grocery store sees? How about that pretty bartender, or the postal worker with the bad back? You'd be surprised what you might find looking through their eyes.

So why am I bringing this up? Well, every path is different, and sometimes we get a little lost in the trees trying to see how rough others have it. Perhaps we can show a bit of kindness to those that seem to struggle the most. The war of self-perception never ends, and although we can never see through another's eyes, we can join them in front of that mirror and help where we can. Some monsters are harder to see than others. With a little luck, maybe we can drag some of those elusive creatures into the light.

-Calhoun

-----------------------------References---------------------------

*Mirror Image. (n.d.). Don Johnson with mirror image. Fandom. Retrieved from: https://miamivice.fandom.com/wiki/Mirror_Image.

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