Mirror, Mirror...What?
Imagine what your life would be like if you NEVER, EVER looked in a mirror. Not even once. Just breathe into that one for a while, especially if you are female....Imagine the extra time you would have...the immense portion of self judgment that would simply vanish...the way your self-definition would change...and, perhaps, how much room you would make for focusing on what really matters and even how your happiness would increase. I mean - think about all the times you've been happiest in your life: I guarantee that none of them occurred in front of a mirror.
When people ask me why animal perspective is so powerful, I often begin with this point.
Animals spend zero time defining who they are by how they look. Squirrels covered in bloody mange act no differently - and are treated the same as - their non-mangey cohorts. Same goes for partially paralyzed dogs zooming around on prosthetic wheels instead of legs.
So, one reason animals can see the light being inside us and repeatedly emphasize that the exterior is unimportant, could be because they have never been deluded by it. One of my favorite lines from a gorilla is a constant reminder: "We don't identify with our bodies emotionally; they are merely a shell, a suit. Yes, you must care for them and love them, but not identify with them, for when they are injured, scarred, or weathered with age, your internal light is not."
Here, some animal wisdom from a gecko - who calls himself Jet - on the unimportance and limitations of our physical form (in the bigger scheme of things):
Jet: Day 1
"Density of form is perceived, just like an illusion. It’s a value you assign to your situation but it’s made up! My form and yours are only illusions.”
[At this point I begin applying makeup, getting ready to leave the house, and Jet began getting agitated, quickly moving about and bobbing his head - behavior considered by some scientific resources to be indicative of aggression, territoriality and dominance. Clearly, though, my teacher was getting worked up for another, more profound reason]:
“I’m here to teach you important lessons and you’re fussing with the illusion of form! Everything is fluid – including you. You people have to start seeing this with your minds. Even what you call cancer is just energy that hasn’t been allowed to move appropriately.”
Me: “You know about cancer?”
Jet: “Yes, I know about this and all things. We all do.
“See all constrictions and resistance move out of you every day. This cleanses you of what becomes dis-ease.”
Jet: Day 2
“Realizing your own greatness – this is such a challenge for you humans. You must close your eyes to move beyond the limits and illusion of my form and yours. Apparently you must also do this to release your limited self-concept.
“Close your eyes and feel the vastness of the energy around you. Feel your hands connect to it – part of it – all of this is you and more. Let your heart open to it too – imagine the energy as all One: Yours and The Universe. You and your energy are part of the vastness: there is no boundary and no limit. Consciousness unbound, you might say.
Stay with it long enough so you feel it in your chest.
You are not your body or your thoughts. Move beyond definitions of time and space and there will be no illness, no fatigue."
SO>>>> I'm not saying we will ever be able to ditch the mirrors...but maybe we can put them down a bit sooner and worry a bit less about whether we require the use of a tissue. Someone is bound to let us know.
OVER 50 SPECIES SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS, WISDOM AND INNER LIVES and the keys that help humans to be happier in:
We Walk Beside You: Animal Messages for an Awakening World, available in paperback, Kindle version and Animal Message Cards on Amazon. Paperback and ebook also available on Barnes and Noble and other sites:
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