mirrors

I realized in my dance audition yesterday how often I watch people through the mirror instead of actually  looking at them. For those of you who aren't crazy enough to spend your life inside of a practically empty rectangular room dressed entirely in spandex, at least one entire wall of every dance studio is covered in mirrors. This allows the dancers to examine their own bodies and correct themselves as well as practice staying in unison with the other dancers. When I am standing on the side of the room watching other dancers practice, I often watch them through the mirror. I realized though how much more I see when I actually look at them (a ground-breaking realization, I know). However, this applies to the rest of life. I often look at people through the image that is first projected and most visible, a flat and purely external image. I rarely take time to turn around and look at them from other, more true and less contrived, angles. I rarely take time to see people as more than just the image that they are trying to project to the audience.