Stranger at the edge of the mirror.

I do not know about you, but sometimes, when I pass a mirror or a window, I catch a glimpse of a lady I do not know. Seriously, it is almost like a stranger passes into my vision.

Your stranger likely looks different, but mine is tall, with big green eyes, beautiful lips, and a smile that seems lit from within. A little heavy certainly, but really... And I think, "Oh, wow. Is that... No, is that me? I look...."

And then I stop and look closer... And vision clears. Nope, not beautiful... that lovely woman is replaced instantly with my real reflection. Bad hair, no make-up, heavy body, not-so-great outfit... Yep, that's what I really look like...

I do not know what I thought I saw, that lovely woman, but it was not me. This is me, flaws and all.

Ha-ha.Isn't it funny that our eyes can be so easily deceived? That we can be tricked into glimpsing beauty in someone whom we scarcely recognize as ourselves?

I saw her this morning, as I stepped out of the shower. Normally I avert my eyes from the mirror in that vulnerable state, I mean be honest, most of us do not want to see that.

But this morning, one of the freaking baby turtles that now lives in my bathroom (don't ask) drew my attention to the mirror's edge and I saw her. And I thought, "Wow, she looks not-so-bad!"

But, she flickered and was gone in an instant and I saw all my.... me.  And the thought that went through my mind was not, "She looks not-so-bad", it was more along the lines of, "Holy Hell. That is not cute" as I scrambled for a towel.

And I have been thinking about her ever since.

And I have been wondering: what if the lady I glimpse in the mirror is not, in fact, the fallacy?

What if the one that I see from the corner of my eye, with my open mind and heart, before the judgements fly up and the flaws loom large, what if she is the truth?

Maybe when she disappears, that is not my vision clearing but being undermined and... tarnished... by the ruthless voices inside my head?

I do not see that lovely lady often. But I do know that, this year, I am going to see if I can get her to linger a little longer.

Because somewhere between what we see and what we wish to see lies the truth. And I think I caught a glimpse this morning.

And it was lovely.

Here is to the strangers at the edges of all of our mirrors, and to getting to know them better.