Mirror Mirror

Think for a moment that when I look at myself in a mirror, I never really see myself. All I see is a reflection (mirror image) of me, but never the "me" that others physically see.

Even if I took another mirror to reflect the mirror image (of the mirror image), I would still be seeing just another mirror image. Everyone else could see me because they are part of my external world and able to look directly and see what I can't. Hmmmm, quite a lot of me, myself and I's in this one.

Suppose there was a way to separate my consciousness from my body, as some mystics claim possible. If I were asleep, I would be able to see myself sleeping from an external perspective but I could only see myself as others see me if I were awake and moving around consciously. I often wonder why it would be important to be able to see myself as others see me.

If I look at this from a different perspective, and ask "What would be an important reason to be able to see myself as others do?", primarily from a psychological, emotional and perhaps behavioral level. Not only to separate myself from me but be able to look at myself dispassionately without judging. Then I could get much closer to seeing my life as if I am in an audience viewing it as an observer. I think it would make it much easier to see the things I'm not happy with or that needs to be changed, without forming any judgement about the behavior. Perhaps I could be more objective about myself, and that would help me see some of the blind spots that I know exist, which others can see but I can't, because I'm too close to it (or me).

Life can also be compared to the Mirror. Events, people, actions, motives, all reflect back to us things that we can interpret in many ways. Some direct, some indirect. In any event, I suppose it's a good thing to be able to see ourselves as others see us. But it could also be quite painful.