The un-daily mirror

As if on autopilot, I dragged my just-woken-up self from my bed to the full-length mirror that stood against my bedroom wall. My eyes went from hazy to lucid as I rubbed them while yawning, and once I was able to gain full vision I was bemused to see what was in front of me. Apparently, it was not my reflection.

Instead, it was a vintage Hermès scarf draped on my mirror, covering most of the corporeal vista with the exception of my feet, only because the scarf wasn’t long enough. I forgot that I had covered my mirror last night, in preparation for the Dove Seven-Day No Mirror Challenge, and today was day one. As I stared blankly at the piece of cloth that blocked my image, I could hear Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain playing in my head.  Except, I normally didn’t think I was extremely vain. But today, it bothered me a little to not be able to see my face.

I walked to my bathroom and again another scarf shielded the mirror. As I went about my quotidian routine, I shimmied my way out of the door in half the time it normally took me to get ready. Without the aid of a mirror and my critical eye, I decisively stuck to my first outfit, instead of going through my usual numerous changes of clothes. Then there was a 10-second slapdash skincare routine that merely consisted of moisturizer and face powder. I was good to go.

 Because the challenge required that I avoid my reflection as much as possible, that meant that the fully mirrored elevators in my building were off-limits. Ditto for public toilets, retail store changing rooms, salons, and even my car’s rearview mirror. The next seven days meant that I took the fire exit stairs and this was just one of many aberrations that I had to follow to steer clear of any mirror.

As the days passed, I started to feel surprisingly liberated — no longer feeling as uneasy not knowing what I looked like, and instead feeling emancipated from my own physical image. But that is not to say that I had a few awkward moments. By day four, I was sure I had something that resembled twin caterpillars above my eyes, as I had been unable to groom my eyebrows.  (And believe me, those suckers grow fast.) One downfall of being vegan meant that I eat much more green vegetables, and so it wasn’t uncommon for me to be walking around with broccoli, spinach or lettuce stuck in my teeth unknowingly.  Thanks to my date for pointing that one out. Oy vey.

 On the eighth day, I unveiled my mirror to see a different face; it was still mine of course, only now it was a more self-assured — one that didn’t rely on a mirror for validation. I looked, smiled at myself, and then walked away.