Are you focussed on your reflection?

The mirror test, or more specifically the mirror self-recognition (MSR) test, is used by behavioural psychologists to test aptitude for visual self-recognition. These tests have been performed on many animal species as well as young children. They have been used as a measure of cognitive development, and some have even used it as a means to define and determine consciousness. I understand why science uses this approach, which can be observed in everything from great apes, elephants and dolphins to some kinds of ants, but I find it fascinating that people, in general, put such a high relative emphasis on who they are on the outside.

Most people love to look at their reflection and not just out of vanity. It may not be just an obsession with what they see in the mirror but every other reflection of our physical selves. The vast majority of us take selfies or photos taken of us and post them on some form of social media. With the easy and quality of digital photography, it is starting to replace our memory to some degree. It has also become a means of expressing who we are to the world at large and to receive confirmation of our hopes and fears through such democratic means as likes and follows. What is all this focus on the reflection of our external selves doing to us? If you have already stopped to consider this before, then you have focussed on the kind of reflection that we all could benefit from.

Do you ever consider what is behind your wants and desires? Do you ever wonder why certain thoughts and situations make you feel the way you do? Have you ever stopped to consider why certain circumstances trigger emotions and behaviours from you? If you want to be more than just a bundle of automated responses to your environment, then this is the kind of reflection we need more focus on. It is the ability to recognise what situations generate fear or curiosity and why. It is a recognition that you can stop and become the observer of your own thoughts. With a little time and practice on reflecting inward, you will gain a degree of wisdom and understanding that a lifetime of external reflections will never scratch the surface of.

As always, it is a matter of balance. A lifetime spent mostly in meditation is unlikely the solution. Instead, it is a matter of experiencing life with both an internal and external perspective and taking time to reflect on both. When you can recognise how much of who you are is based on habits and emotional responses and appreciate that the same is true of everyone else, you will have a greater level of awareness. The results will be more compassion and less criticism toward yourself while having greater empathy for others. If we all did a little more of this, the world would be a better place.