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Facing The Mirror

I have sometimes been surprised by the mirror showing me a mood in my face that I was not aware of being in. When the difference between how I am feeling at the time versus how I appear to be feeling is sharp enough, I am not sure what to trust - the eye or the gut. When I focused on something intently J has asked "Mommy, you look mad, what's wrong ?" I have to explain to her that there is nothing wrong, I am just thinking and she will follow up with "What are you thinking that is making you mad ?". I guess it bothers her when she is not able to understand why I have the expression on my face that I do.

So until, I abandon my train of thought and whatever it is that I am doing, focus my attention on her, relax and smile, J is not quite convinced that I am not mad. From my own experience, I had been aware of lack of the agreement between mood and facial appearance but reading this article on how the mirror does not really tell us how we appear to the world taught me something new about mirrors.
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ggop said…
Nice insight into how the brain works. It probably applies to why I think I can camouflage rolls of fat postpartum with dark jeans and how in public I must look chubby. :-)
11:49 AM
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