A World with no Mirrors

Human beings are naturally drawn to attractiveness. Through the many psychology classes I have taken, I have learned about this concept and how it can affect many aspects of our lives. For example, when people view someone they deem attractive, they are instantly under the impression that this person has more positive attributes such as intelligence and generosity.This is known as the halo effect. Think about it, this simply gives the upper hand to those who are seen as more attractive; this is unfair in so many ways- from job opportunities, to treatment in school, and in areas of finance. In addition to how this affects society, this need to reach certain levels of attractiveness impacts our individual wellbeing and emotional health in so may ways; we become obsessed, believing this exterior feature of humans to be the most important.

Physical appearance has become somewhat of a fascination. We spend hours fixating on every detail of our skin, finding fault after fault. We look to the mirror for approval; the mirror makes us our biggest critic and sometimes even the enemy of ourselves as human beings. Instead, we are treating our bodies as objects, needing to mend and fix until we reach satisfaction (which may be practically impossible to many of us). Ultimately, the mirror and this need to look "perfect" creates a limit for what we get out of interactions with others, our solo times, and how we think about ourselves.

How would our lives change if we were less preoccupied with our appearances? I truly believe that every single human being would be happier; we would be less occupied with thoughts about ourselves, thus we would alleviate thoughts of anxiety and tension that circulate on constant basis. We would have more profound interactions and relationships, as we would be able to put all of our focus into the whole human being instead of first seeing a face and forming an unconscious outlook immediately.

How has this age of perfectionism impacted you? Do you notice your family or friends being effected? If not, try to observe small ways in which people become preoccupied with their faces and bodies; I guarantee you will start to understand a little more about how the mind is hooked. I encourage everyone to try and make small, conscious changes in how you view others; try, really try to look past the exterior. Consider how these subconscious ways of viewing people will affect both their impression on you and how the two of you interact. Maybe you will surprise yourself and recognize that by doing this, you could really change your life.