The next time you look in the mirror ask yourself a
couple of questions. Do you recognise the reflection and what can you say about
the image? Actually you might start by celebrating the fact that there is a
reflection!
This is your Descartes moment – there is a reflection
therefore I am. Proof if you needed it that you are real rather than a figment
of some dystopian dream.
But let’s go back to that image in the mirror. Take a
good hard look and test your emotional response to the image you see. Do you
really like yourself? Hopefully the answer is yes (with perhaps a few
reservations).
That moment in front of the mirror at the dawn of each
day is a good starting point. What is it about the image that makes you happy,
or are you a habitually unhappy bunny?
When you move away from the mirror and get on with your
day what body language message do you send to others? Is it a genuine message
or is the real you hidden?
I’ve always been captivated by a Judy Garland quote that
popped up in a course that I once taught. She says that we should always be a
first-rate version of ourselves rather than a second-rate version of someone
else.
That has an echo in Shakespeare’s Hamlet when Polonius
says, “This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the
night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
Whether Shakespeare’s words and Judy Garland’s musing
build a platform for a better understanding of self has to be a matter for
debate of course. Are you true to yourself and really a first-rate version of
yourself? Of course in order to make sense of that you would have to really
understand what makes you tick.
From time to time I run a half day course on looking at
the things that do actually make you tick. Exploring your beliefs and values
can be a hugely interesting and often very challenging journey. It can also be
a dangerous place when you bump into things that might make you question core
beliefs.
In this curious world of swirling acronyms and magical
algorithms it is all too easy to become a victim. Perhaps victim is too strong
a word but I am worried about personality manipulation. That gentle stroking of
opinion and reinforcement of prejudice by clever algorithms should worry all of
us.
Acronyms that include and exclude populate the landscape
like mushrooms and toadstools in autumn. I became very aware of this via my
Facebook feed and that is one of the reasons my account is now closed.
If you have the time spare do look at the manipulative
methods that were used to split the UK during and after the European Union vote
via social media and certain sections of the press. It really is scary stuff
and can distort clear thinking.
I was going to say a little about true news and false
news but my blood pressure is already too high.
Anyway the next time you look in the mirror take a very
long and hard look at yourself. Are you really true to yourself in a positive
way? Hopefully the answer is yes. If not then you have some very serious
questions to answer.
Before you walk away do give yourself a smile and get on
with the day. Hopefully as the day progresses you will still be able to keep
the smile!
