After hearing about two women who gave up makeup for an entire two months, I'm still not quite sure if I'm up for the challenge. I am fairly confident that I'd be fine when I started, until the time came when I had to leave the house. At that point, I'm sure I'd run into the bathroom to stare at myself in the mirror to see just how awful I look without anything on my face.
But I wonder if I'd feel differently about the idea if there were no mirrors in my house? If I couldn't see myself, then I'd have nothing to criticize, right?
Today I read about a woman named Kjerstin Gruys, who went an entire year without looking in the mirror in the hopes of achieving a more positive image of herself. She didn't even sneak a peek before her own wedding! And I think she may have caught on to something amazing. Because living without mirrors sounds incredibly refreshing to me.
There are days where I absolutely hate having mirrors in every bathroom in the house. Because every time I pass one, I feel the need to check myself out and make sure my appearance is ok, and that seems so vain and ridiculous. And I'll also admit that the reflection I see has a major effect on my self esteem for sure.
If I'm having a great hair day and I'm very put-together, I feel confident and ready to take over the world. But if I look at myself first thing in the morning without a stitch of makeup on and total bedhead, I immediately start to take jabs at myself -- all because of what I see in that damn mirror.
And don't even get me started on the horrible things I say about myself right before I step in the shower. There have been days when I've even threatened to break the stupid piece of glass in the bathroom because it makes me hate the way I look. Isn't it amazing how something as basic as a mirror can cause so much self loathing?
We are always our own worst critics, and I really have a good gut feeling that my confidence would go up quite a bit if I didn't let my reflection dictate the state of my mood on any given day. Hmm. I'm thinking at least attempting to avoid the mirror whenever possible is a pretty awesome idea. It certainly can't hurt.
Do you let what you see in the mirror have an effect on your self confidence?
Image via ChalonHandmade/Flickr