Everyone you meet is a mirror. How do you look?
A week ago, a deer, a territorial buck, saw his reflection in the window at the yoga studio I go to. He “fought” with this “presence” until he broke the window and landed in the middle of the studio, bloody and frothing at the mouth. Was he thinking, “Yay, I killed the bastard even though I might’ve seriously injured myself, it was worth it. I won.”
The truth and the irony is, he broke a window…a mirror reflection. And he only hurt himself in the process.
We are that deer right now.
We, in this country and in this world, are fighting with our own reflection. Our own fears, hatred, anger, and sense of separateness from each other.
These “reflections” are pieces of our soul that have been hidden. Stuff our souls want us to see so we can heal them. But instead, we attack.
With the deer, he literally saw himself and did not realize it. For us, we look differently on the outside, yes. But inside we share 99.9% of our DNA.
By hurting each other, no one wins.
Until we look at that mirror and decide, “Wow, he/she is ME. Another human being who is feeling vulnerable, scared and just wants to be heard and feel safe.” Until then, NO ONE WINS.
My hope is next time I encounter my “mirror,” I will take a breath before I rant or rave. I will see another human, not an opinion without a face. I will see me in them and soften my tone, my glaring eyes, my heart. I will dare to be vulnerable enough to admit, we are one in the same.
Next time you get triggered by someone, stop and look at why. Why are you so angry, upset, righteous or frightened?
Let’s not be the deer who cuts ourselves to shreds and gallops away with the false satisfaction that somehow we “won.”
You win when your heart guides you into understanding there is another human behind that mirror longing to connect on some level.
