What I Learned By Not Looking In The Mirror For A Day | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

What I Learned By Not Looking In The Mirror For A Day

#1: We look in the mirror a lot.

37
What I Learned By Not Looking In The Mirror For A Day
SC Style Caster

I'd been wanting to do this little experiment for the longest time. Originally, I planned on going a week without looking in the mirror. But I kept putting it off, and I realized that I needed to start smaller. I consider myself a pretty low maintenance, down to earth person, so I was curious how I would respond to going mirror-less for the day. Even with my 100 percent cotton, makeup-free ways, I found that not looking in a mirror all day was quite the challenge.

8 a.m. I wake up and shuffle over to the bathroom, only to totally forget my mission. I stare groggily at myself in the mirror for five seconds, hands in my sweatpant pockets and eyes nearly open. I open the medicine cabinet to the left - which is also a mirror - and pop two gummy vitamins.

Food time. I Snapchat my brother and future sister-in-law as I eat breakfast. I send them a pic of my oatmeal since a selfie is essentially like looking into a mirror.

I go to the bathroom (I drink a lot of tea). I actively have to fight the urge to stare myself down as I wash my hands. I stare at that plunger/drain part, then happily rush away, glad to return to the mirror-less comfort of the kitchen.

9 a.m. I remembered that I have P90X in the afternoon, which is held in a room with two mirrored walls, plus you basically stare at yourself the entire time to make sure your technique is correct (though I'm sure it's peppered with the occasional narcissistic, or even judgmental, glance). We'll see.

Sometime later. I put on my tea tree oil face mask while staring at the wall, as opposed to watching myself in the mirror as I smear green goo all over my face.

I wonder what a life without mirrors would be like. Just to go about life without worrying how you look. And why would you? You'd never see yourself. You would judge your body for how you feel, not how you look. My mind goes to Instagram fitness feeds. If these fitness junkies say things like "Fitness is about a feeling, not a look" then why do they post countless mirror picture holding their shirt up to show off their abs? If you have a strong core, you can notice it in the way your body feels and how you hold yourself, not simply how it looks. End aside.

I wash my face mask off. Hopefully I got it all off. I squirt a couple pumps of moisturizer in my hands then spread it on my face. I never wear makeup, so this experiment may be less of a challenge for me.

Now time to brush my teeth. Why do we stare at ourselves as we brush our teeth? Doing this 2x a day for our entire lives, you'd think we'd be more skilled. Our teeth aren't going anywhere. We don't need to stare them down like we're in an Old West dual.

I grabbed my toothbrush and left the bathroom, aka hall of mirrors. I stared out the living room window as I distracted myself while watching people head off to class and I jammed out to Vampire Weekend. It's likely that anyone who looked up and saw me was seriously creeped out.

Outfit time. It was a very overcast, rainy day. I threw on a pair of boyfriend jeans - my bell bottoms got soaked last rainy day, growing two inches, so I learned my lesson. For defense and a reminder (to myself and others), I pulled on my Walt Whitman shirt. Perfect for today, it's a one-size-fits-all (none?) white t-shirt (minus the tea stains) stamped with my favorite Whitmanism: "Be curious not judgmental." Because many people may be curious as to why this girl has green stuff on her face or why she has hippie hair (not in a good way) or why she is wearing that outfit. Curious? Ask me. I'll tell you I got ready without a mirror. My outfit is incredibly comfortable and I'm wearing pants that zip (aka fancy pants), so I'm feeling good.

Walking to class, I realize how many buildings are made of glass. Campus transformed in a collection of mirrors. As I saw my reflection in glass doors, I had to avert my eyes. Also, as my laptop started to go to sleep in class (turning the screen into a black mirror), I had to keep moving my mouse pad to avoid seeing my relfection in my MacBook mirror.

After class, I engaged in the traditional lunch and social media-checking ritual. I went to snap my sister back. As I double tapped her message, my face showed up and I actually covered my face with my hands, quickly switching the camera around. I'm impressed with my dedication to going the entire day without looking at myself.

P90X time. I was debating whether or not to abandon my project at this time. I use the mirrors in class to make sure I'm using the correct form, but I decided to stick to the mirror-less mission as long as I could. So I got my mats, my weights and found a spot. During the warm up, I alternated between staring at the ground or looking at other people in the mirror (which again, could be creepy). When we got into squats, I did find myself glancing a couple of times at mirror, but for the most part, I stuck with my experiment. Much of the cardio section (180-degree burpees, tuck jumps, shuffle sprints) was so quick that it didn't even make sense for me to be looking in the mirror. My focus instead was on survival and the burning feeling in my lungs. Even during the arm section, I resisted the urge to glance in the mirror during curls, presses and raises.

Once the hardest part of my experiment, P90X class, was over, I didn't struggle with mirror glances. I accepted the challenge and focused on other things. I whipped up some dinner (not looking at my reflection in the microwave) and ran off to an evening meeting. Eventually I returned home, showered, and got ready for bed without any nagging temptation to catch a glimpse of myself.

My mirror-free day was a very enlightening experience. Even as someone who spends about 45 seconds "getting ready" in the morning, I definitely catch myself instinctively glancing at mirrors or other reflective surfaces as I go about my day. I'm building up the adventurous spirit to venture into a week-long experiment of the mirror-free lifestyle. I'll let you know.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Drake
Hypetrak

1. Nails done hair done everything did / Oh you fancy huh

You're pretty much feeling yourself. New haircut, clothes, shoes, everything. New year, new you, right? You're ready for this semester to kick off.

Keep Reading...Show less
7 Ways to Make Your Language More Transgender and Nonbinary Inclusive

With more people becoming aware of transgender and non-binary people, there have been a lot of questions circulating online and elsewhere about how to be more inclusive. Language is very important in making a space safer for trans and non-binary individuals. With language, there is an established and built-in measure of whether a place could be safe or unsafe. If the wrong language is used, the place is unsafe and shows a lack of education on trans and non-binary issues. With the right language and education, there can be more safe spaces for trans and non-binary people to exist without feeling the need to hide their identities or feel threatened for merely existing.

Keep Reading...Show less
singing
Cambio

Singing is something I do all day, every day. It doesn't matter where I am or who's around. If I feel like singing, I'm going to. It's probably annoying sometimes, but I don't care -- I love to sing! If I'm not singing, I'm probably humming, sometimes without even realizing it. So as someone who loves to sing, these are some of the feelings and thoughts I have probably almost every day.

Keep Reading...Show less
success
Degrassi.Wikia

Being a college student is one of the most difficult task known to man. Being able to balance your school life, work life and even a social life is a task of greatness. Here's an ode to some of the small victories that mean a lot to us college students.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

6 Signs You're A Workaholic

Becuase of all things to be addicted to, you're addicted to making money.

460
workaholic
kaboompics

After turning 16, our parents start to push us to get a job and take on some responsibility. We start to make our own money in order to fund the fun we intend on having throughout the year. But what happens when you've officially become so obsessed with making money that you can't even remember the last day you had off? You, my friend, have become a workaholic. Being a workaholic can be both good and bad. It shows dedication to your job and the desire to save money. It also shows that you don't have a great work-life balance. Here are the signs of becoming a workaholic.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments