Penny For Your Thoughts
By: Nancy Whitaker
I am always wondering about something. Sometimes I just like to sit and contemplate things. Today I was thinking about mirrors. I have never met a mirror I didn’t have the urge to look into. They say a person is self-conscious and unsure of themselves if they constantly look in a mirror to check their appearance. I am also wondering who looks in a mirror more… males or females?
I really don’t know if it is unusual or not, but I glance in a mirror each time I pass one. Am I expecting to see something different than the last time I looked? No! I do it out of habit. I wonder if there is anyone in this world who has never looked in a mirror. I read that years ago the Native Americans would look into a river or pond of water to see their reflections, so we do know there has always been a way for us ladies and men to tell what we look like.
A few years ago we went on vacation and took our little dog, Baylee. In the hotel room was a full length mirror which Baylee got in front of immediately. He spied himself because he started barking at his reflection in the mirror. He would run up, stop, look at that “other” dog and sometimes he would growl ferociously and other times he would wag his tail and flirt. We thought it was funny at first, but we finally had to put something over the mirror to stop Baylee from barking at himself.
When I was younger I worked in a restaurant and soda shop. Down both sides of the restaurant were big mirrors. As I hurriedly pranced by, waiting on customers and serving vanilla cokes, I would always look into those mirrors to see if I looked good enough to perhaps get a quarter tip.
I remember my grandma had long hair. For church she would put it in a bun and on weekdays she would wear a braid. She had a hand mirror on her dresser which she would hold up to a larger mirror to see the back of her hair. Now grandma was not a vain person, but she did like to check herself out in the mirror and sometimes while looking in a mirror, she would pinch her cheeks to make them pink.
Maybe I inherited my fascination with mirrors from my grandma. However, grandpa was just as bad, as he looked into a mirror while he tried on various hats to wear for the day.
There are a few beliefs about mirrors, so be careful. For one thing, people are warned never to look into a mirror at night or by candle light. If you do you would be certain to see ghosts, demons and maybe your own death.
Another old belief is that when a person died in a room the mirrors had to be covered or turned to face the wall. Failure to do so would result in the deceased person’s soul being lost – or they may even turn into a vampire.
We have all heard if you break a mirror you will have seven years of bad luck. However, OldSuperstitions.com claims that breaking a mirror will not result in bad luck if you “take the pieces outside and bury them in moonlight.”
Now one thing that is nice is a full length mirror. I happen not to have one, so I step out onto the porch and look in a full length window to check and see if my slip is hanging or my britches aren’t too tight.
I have heard that our eyes are the mirrors to our souls. I do believe someone can look into your eyes like a mirror and can see your emotions.
A mirror can make us think we look good or bad. We can stand all day in front of a mirror and primp, but we are still the same person that stares back at us from within the “mirror.”
Do you like to look into mirrors? Do you like what you see? Has your dog ever looked in a mirror and barked at himself? Let me know and I’ll give you a Penny for Your thoughts.
