The English word “mirror” comes from the Latin mirari, to wonder or marvel at. We see our reflection, and this prompt is an opportunity to write from that gaze.
We spend time combing, powdering and plucking in an attempt to control our image. The mirror can be a tool with which we work to tune our reflection before stepping out of the house. It takes very little imagination to consider a woman’s makeup to be her, “warpaint.”
There are large changes in culture right now – a second look at the presentations of the past, a pull to reconfigure our lens of the present, demands for new ways of seeing the future. If history is written by the victors, then writing our story now is of key importance. When you look in the mirror do you see color, gender, or history? How closely is that tied to your identity?
The way we feel on the inside vs. our outside visage can be two different things – more to do with feelings than the reality of a two dimensional, still photo. Our outside borders shift, expand and contract and there are days we feel fat, days we feel thin.
Writing prompt: When you look in the mirror what is the first thing you see? A problem? A friendly face? Something to criticize? Something lit with joy? Write a word portrait of what you see. How have you changed the way you present yourself in a post Covid world? Have you quit lipstick? Grown a beard? Stopped dyeing your gray?
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