Late last month I had the opportunity to be part of an awesome photo shoot for the #lovethemirror initiative (I don’t know if they’re calling it an initiative, but I like that word so I’m using it!). The idea was that in 2015, you should resolve to learn to love the mirror, and love what you see in your reflection. I love this message, for so many reasons. Let me see if I can put them all into words…
1. If you read The Militant Baker’s blog post about the photo shoot and the initiative, you’ll see that she’s tired of people being told that they’re so smart, or talented, or funny, but never being told that their bodies are awesome too. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s great to be acknowledged for your intelligence and your great personality, but I think everyone wants the chance to also feel like they are hot stuff. We deserve to feel beautiful or handsome.
2. I’ve written before about how tired I am of the word “narcissism” getting tossed around anytime anybody (but especially a woman) dares to think that she looks good, and enjoys her appearance. Enough of that. I am here to say that yes, I love the mirror, and yes, there are times when I put on a super bootie skirt like I’m wearing in this picture and check myself out in my dance mirror. Or I’ll take my hair out of its braid in the morning, brush it out, and then turn profile to check out how long and wavy and red it is. We need to learn not to be ashamed of occasionally stopping in front of the mirror and thinking “Damn, I am looking fiiiiiiine today.”
3. As stated in my quote on the picture above, the mirror is such an important tool for dancers. It lets you double check your posture and your form. In group situations, it lets you keep an eye on your fellow dancers so you can all learn to be on the same timing with your arms or other movements. You can also use your own reflection to practice maintaining eye contact. How can you do any of these things if you’re uncomfortable with looking at yourself in the mirror?
4. The mirror is also necessary for doing my makeup before a performance. Look, it’s hard enough to get the wings of my liner even with a mirror. I’d be a hot mess without one. When you look in the mirror to put your face on, you can’t get bogged down in your imperfections, you have to love the face you have and decide how best to make it up to emphasize your favorite features and make sure the audience can read your emotions.
Of course, even as someone who loves the mirror, I have my days where I don’t want to look at myself. If I’m in a new dance class and I have no idea what I’m doing, sometimes I can’t bring myself to watch my own flailing. And I have moments where I’m trying to do my lipstick and I fall into a weird spiral of thinking how strange the shape of my lips are and how weird I look when I smile. Body love is a journey, and sometimes I step off the road and I dunno, hang out in some sort of seedy diner? That analogy didn’t quite work out. But I want to make sure that everyone knows that we all fall off the self-love wagon, and the important thing is to recognize when you’re thinking bad thoughts about yourself, and to change your train of thought. You can do it! I think everyone can learn to love themselves.
Anyway, it was really awesome to be part of the photoshoot. I always enjoy working with Jes (true fact: she gives THE BEST hugs), and it was a treat to work with Jade Beall, too. It was cool to see a really wide variety of races, sizes, abilities and walks of life take their turn in front of the camera. I even got my Dad to come along (he’s the one in the kilt). And when I went to the launch party and got a preview of all the images and all the quotes, well, let’s just say that I inadvertently got to test whether my mascara was waterproof. There’s so many great reasons to learn to love the body you see in the mirror, and really, not one single good reason to hate it.
