Beauty

"Mirror, mirror on the wall
who's the fairest of them all?"
-Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Call me strange, but I find mirrors interesting. When I was younger I used to try to write messages backwards so when I held it up to our bathroom mirror it would read correctly in the reflection. I never did quite get the hang of it, though.

Especially nowadays, it seems that people expect so much from their reflections. They gaze into the mirror and expect beauty to be gazing back at them. Despite their hopes, though, unfortunately sometimes beauty isn't what they see.

This past semester at college I met someone who, in my mind, had literally gone through hell and is still going through it. He also told me that, because of certain past events, there are some days when he can't look in the mirror, days when he simply can't face his reflection, face himself. Through a series of unfortunate events, I don't know if/when I'll even see him again, but if I do, there's something I'd like to tell him, and it's something I think a lot of people should hear from someone at least once.

That person you see in the mirror? That person staring back at you? They're a reflection of what's inside you, and you shouldn't be scared to face them. Even if you've been through hell, even if you question actions you took in the past, you're beautiful. I wish you could see that. Please don't run from your reflection,  from yourself, or you're always going to be miserable, and you'll probably end up reducing yourself to a lonely old mess. Why banish yourself? Why turn away from your reflection when there's so much already there? Can't you see it? I can. Your reflection is you, and you are beautiful.