Recently I noticed that when I spend more time than usual looking in the mirror I start to pick out certain things about myself that I like and dislike, it feels like the more time I spend looking in the mirror the more extreme these thoughts get. Most days I spend next to no time looking in the mirror, no more than 10-15mins just enough time to make sure I don't look a mess, and I don't spend much time thinking about how I look because it doesn't matter that much.
The whole culture of makeup, skin care, perfect facial hair along with add campaigns and social media just pushes the idea that what someone looks like is the most important thing about them when that is far from the truth. I won't say that looks don't matter at all because in social situations they do to an extent, but a persons actions are most important.
When you first see a person you judge them on what they look like and how they are dressed but once you speak to someone you will quickly confirm or break your preconceived notions and it becomes about how a person acts and talks rather than how they look.
Reflection:
If you spend enough time looking at anything you will start to notice the most minuscule details. For example if you stare at a piece of art you will start to notice the different brush strokes and you quickly start picking apart areas you like and dislike.
How long do you spend looking in the mirror each day?
If you were to spend an hour each day looking in the mirror after a year you would have spent over two weeks just staring at yourself, if you do that with anything you will start to love certain aspects and hate others. You will start to become either narcissistic or self loathing.
Spending that much time looking in a mirror also just reinforces the idea portrayed by companies who purposefully pick out common insecurities because it sells more. It also brings out the vanity in people so they get more caught up in what they look like and what other people think about their looks.
I also think people need to let go of their vanity so they can spend time looking inward rather than at their looks, confidence comes with knowing who you are not what you look like. What people look like does not dictate what a person is capable of or what they can and can not do, and to find out what you want to do, you have to understand yourself.