MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? Most of us remember that scene when the queen asks the mirror to confirm she is still more beautiful than Snow White. By the way, as a kid I wanted so bad to fall in love with Snow White, but I couldn't; it was due to that rather irritating high-pitched voice of hers. I had the same problem with Bambi... Only kidding. - Well, back to the mirrors.

I have never had a good relationship with mirrors; seems like they all have something against me, or at least something against the image of me. It doesn't matter what side of me I try to reflect, it's always the same result: Oh no, not again... Sure there are the few times I get a glimpse of a ruggedly handsome Mr. Steiness; I gloat a bit, smirk, walk away, but hurry back to make sure I wasn't just seeing things - but for the most I am; he was gone as fast as he had appeared - dang it...

Can we assume George Clooney doesn't suffer my mirror problems? In my opinion, he is top-of-the-list handsome. But does he ever stand in front of the mirror, smiling that charming smile of his and utter: "I am still more handsome than Tom and Brad." I think he does. I could utter the same thing, but would unfortunately not be referring to the same Tom and Brad.

I have always found it fascinating watching people in front of mirrors watching (admiring?) themselves. Some leave shaking their heads, some with tears of joy, others pump their fists, a few have smirks on their faces and some, like me, simply avoid mirrors all together. Don't misunderstand me, this is not a call for help from Mr. Low-Self-Esteem, not at all. In other areas I am rather sure of myself (when I recall what any of those other areas are, I'll let you know). And that brings up photographs.

Now, you tell me what it is we like so much about being photographed - because that's what it's all about: images of ME. We force our way into any photo, then we turn on silly faces, we smile and will do anything to stand out. Don't worry, we are all a bit like that, and I have always wondered why that is. Are we that self-absorbed, so self-centered? I don't think so; I just don't know why - do you? Another thing is that after we push ourselves into the pictures and then see that image of ourselves on the LCD screen, on the paper, the monitor, the mobile, we scream: Gee, I'm so ugly, stupid, insane (or whatever). Sometimes we find a photo that actually is really good, where we do look handsome, charming, beautiful (or whatever), but this satisfied opinion we keep to ourselves; I mean, we are not that shallow, are we?
I only have one picture of me where I'm cute and adorable. It's a black and white photo from 1946, I was barely 3 months old; seriously, it is very cute - for the wallet (if I had one).

At times I ask my wife and very best friend ever, if I'm okay looking. She always answers: "I think you are". And in the end, that IS all that matters - for her and especially for me. The thing is that we NEVER see ourselves the same way other people see us. What we look like to other people is extremely different from what we think we look like, mirrors or no mirrors. So I certainly hope that people see something in me that I don't see myself.

Therefor my logical conclusion is that when they do look at Peter B. Steiness, they do actually see a lot of George Clooney - (well, you might if you try really hard - please!)

Make it a productive week whatever you are doing - legally.

Best Regards,

Peter