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.
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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.
