Terminalcoffee discussion

Mirrors are about more than vanity. If someone has a mole or other blemish on their face that changes they'd have no way of knowing it outside of relying on someone else to look for them.

Shaving without a mirror would be tough. Also I generally cut my own hair, and the mirror is pretty handy for that as well.

I wouldn't trust myself to get ready for work without a mirror. And Michael makes a good point, I wouldn't want to leave the house without knowing if there's something on my face or if my underwear is showing through my clothes.

I stumbled upon this today too, and almost made a topic about it :)

I don't think I could go without a mirror for more than a day. I enjoy looking in mirrors.

Barb wrote: "*brings Janine some food and water*"

Thanks, Barb :)

I don't look at myself 24/7, but I do sometimes use my webcam to check my hair.

Barb wrote: "... and how on earth would I find my little chin-whiskers to pluck them if I couldn't get reeeeeeeeeal close up to the mirror? That is my chief concern."

Right. Soon you will graduate to the magnifying mirror for this task. Then the little buggers look like grandpa whiskers.

I don't look in the mirror often, but I do need to look to put on my makeup and brush my hair, so no, I couldn't go without for a year.

I don't enjoy looking in the mirror, but it would bug me not to have one. I've always envied those people who could put on lipstick or fix their hair without a mirror. Unfortunately, I have one section of my hair that will not lay flat and I have to brush and rebrush and fix and refix it when trying to put it into a ponytail. If I put my hair up without a mirror, I would have a huge lump of hair sticking out every single time.

I can't go an hour without looking in the mirror.

I could probably do it... but I wouldn’t want to. I can apply make up (I wear very little) and do my hair without the aid of a mirror.

Imagine all the grey hair and wrinkles I’d find after a year!! No, I wouldn’t do it, the shock alone after a year would be too much.

I like the idea of this mirror-less project, but I don't think I would have the strength of will to get married without looking in the mirror, as this student is planning. I think seeing myself in photos later without having seen myself on the actual day would be disorienting.

Oh... I didn’t actually read the article! I can’t imagine not looking at yourself before your wedding, or pictures even.

I might be able to get away without looking in a mirror for a day or two, but I couldn't do it for a year. I wouldn't want to.

Barb wrote: "... and how on earth would I find my little chin-whiskers to pluck them if I couldn't get reeeeeeeeeal close up to the mirror? That is my chief concern."

Exactly, and food leftovers, pimples, picking your eye brows... I'm in no way vain, but I don't want to go to work with black hairs on my chin, yoghurt on my cheek and something nasty sticking out of my nose...

i often go days with out looking at the mirror. i can shave my head in the shower and only shave my face every couple of days anyway. i brush my teeth in the shower or while walking around the house. yesterday i think i had a piece of spinach from a salad in my front tooth for about 4 hrs and that is the downside of not looking in the mirror. oopsie

And what if you get something stuck in your eye and noone's there to help you?

My family is completely worthless if I have spinach in my teeth.

Oh Cynthia, that can't be true. They must have some worth, however small.

They have plenty of worth, just not in the Hey You've Got Something in Yer Teeth department.

Imagine living back when only rich people had mirrors of polished metal. Then it would be the norm.

I don't look in the mirror much, but I do when I get ready to go somewhere. I don't think I could do without that. I'd be too self-conscious, wondering what everyone else could see that I couldn't. I think it would make me more self-conscious, not less.

Gruys, the no-mirror woman in the article, says, "The most important thing that is changing isn't the amount of hate or love I have for any certain body part: it's the extent to which my appearance shapes my self-image, overall."

I don't think it's her appearance that shapes her self-image; her self-image is shaped by society's expectations. Do we look in a mirror because we want to see ourselves or because we want to arm ourselves against attack? Looking in a mirror is an act of self-preservation.

I agree Scout.

That's a very interesting take on it, Scout, but I'd argue that the reality isn't as clear-cut. Granted, society sets up ideals, but how we feel about ourselves can depend on whether or not we accept those ideals and to what degree, and if we do accept them, how we measure up to those ideals, what about our appearance we like even if it's not currently considered attractive, and how we feel about all the other myriad bits that make up who we are on any given day.

True dat--calls for a post edit!

i may try to do a 1-week no mirror challenge

I couldn't straighten my hair without a mirror. So no!

It's cute curly.

They look cute on my daughtet.

I often think, when I see people in public, "Don't you have a mirror at home?"

There was a time when I used to walk around with drops of paint on my face, cuts on my arms, all sorts of random things that would happen during the course of the work day that I wouldn't notice till I got home. Many job sites, you were lucky if there was a functioning toilet let alone a mirror.

I once spent my entire day going to classes with a giant ring of smeared green paint around my neck from working in the studio. There were a ton of mirrors around, but I never stopped to look in any of them until the third or fourth person asked me if I was ok, because apparently people thought it was a fading bruise from someone trying to strangle me. I always checked the mirror after working in the studio after that.

Sounds like a wise move.

Anything reflective counts as a mirror.

I'm often reflective.

Jonathan wrote: "Many job sites, you were lucky if there was a functioning toilet let alone a mirror. "

Did you ever lean too far over the toilet to check out your reflection, and fall in?

A constant hazard.

Lobstergirl wrote: "I'm often reflective."

As long as you don't reflect badly on yourself.

Mirrors can be deceiving. My bedroom mirror makes me look 15 lbs. lighter than reality.

Huh?

Lobstergirl wrote: "Mirrors can be deceiving. My bedroom mirror makes me look 15 lbs. lighter than reality."

Where can I get one of those?

I look thinner when I look in the mirror without glasses on.

Elijah wrote: "Anything reflective counts? Well damn. How would I tie my ties accurately?"

Ties are not that difficult. Even I can do it.

Lobstergirl wrote: "I'm often reflective."

Lobstergirl = mirror

With or without the orange sauce?

It takes a heavy dog to weigh a ton.

janine wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "Mirrors can be deceiving. My bedroom mirror makes me look 15 lbs. lighter than reality."

Where can I get one of those?"

I'll sell you mine for $500,000.

If you respond in the next 30 minutes, I'll throw in this Snuggie and a set of knives.

A friend once told me that things are as they should be when it comes to aging: Failing eyesight coincides with failing physiques. So, for a happy illusion, toss the glasses when in the bedroom or when looking in the mirror.

Does that mean that everyone with glasses is ugly?

I know you don't mean that, but that's one of the possible messages.

Lobstergirl wrote: "I'll sell you mine for $500,000.

If you respond in the next 30 minutes, I'll throw in this Snuggie and a set of knives."

I'm not interested in the Snuggie, but the knives could be nice.

Careful. She said she would throw them.

I don't think she can throw that far.