A mom of two boys, holding down a part-time job that sees me doing full-time hours for reduced pay most weeks, running a household, and playing taxi to my kids. An eternal student with an Arts and a Law degree, a Certified Chartered Accountant, author, and curator. It is little wonder that I have no time for vanity! And so I ask myself why I bother to look in the mirror at all?
I guess I do it to catch a glimpse of the many facets of my personality and character that get lost in the everyday grind, and by looking occasionally, I hope to see a part of myself reflected back to me that perhaps I had forgotten about. It reminds me of the person that I am, beneath all the layers that life has created around me; a relatively well-balanced person with a big picture mentality, who loves to engage with a diverse range of people on a wide range of issues, always seeking to examine life from multiple perspectives.
I wear hats; lots of them! Both literally and figuratively. Baseball caps, Fedoras, Trilbys, woolen knits, beanies, trappers, flat caps, and floppy hats. I have hats for all occasions. If you hadn't guessed it by now, I love hats! I also wear the mom hat, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, nurse, taxi driver, playmate, therapist, author, curator, karateka, accountant, student, and erstwhile philosopher amongst others.
So who is the real me? Every day I look for her in reflections of my life and I find all the wonderful pieces that make me "ME". I am all of the above rolled into one; a synthesis of evolution, and there is no mirror on earth that can capture all that I am, because I am that I am, and I am first and foremost, Sam.
And so I look inwards. I see reflections in the mirrors of my mind of all that life has handed me; the ups and the downs, both the joy and the sorrow. Every little lesson, every experience that has enriched me, empowered me, and strengthened me as a person. This mirror I visit more than any other. It is this mirror that feeds my soul and brings me back for more.
But occasionally, I do take a look in an actual mirror, be it the tall one in my bedroom, the wide one in my bathroom, the rearview one in my car, or the shiny surfaces I 'upcycle' into mirrors in my mind, such as the selfie function on my mobile phone, the reflection in the driver's window of my Qashqai or the black reflections in the tinted panels of the office block within which I work. If I counted the number of times I look at myself in an actual mirror on a daily basis, I think the numbers would be fairly consistent: Once in the morning after getting dressed, a second and a third time before heading out on the school runs, and finally after my evening shower. But mostly I just throw on a hat and run out the door, headlong into my crazy beautiful life!
I will leave you with a poem, for I am also a poet at heart. I don't usually write rhyming poems, but this one happens to depart from my norm and is an ode to this new community that I have found :-)
"Mirror mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?"
The Mirror looked and then replied.
"To be the fairest in the land,
Objective one must be.
No sleight of hand, no scam nor spam
Integrity is key!
So join the many voices
Of the Ladies of the Hive
Put community at heart
And together you shall thrive."
I invite @diebitch to join the Ladies of the Hive and take part in their weekly contest.
Thank you @dreemsteem for inviting me :-)
Photo credit: Miriam Espacio