Mirror, Mirror…

Birthday Reflection

Today, is my birthday. As I sit here contemplating this post, an image from the movie The Matrix flashes through my mind. Neo is sitting there, hooked up to this device, gazing at himself in the mirror…pretty appropriate, I think as I gaze at my computer screen and notice how my hands appear to be hooked up as I type, to the silver box that is my MacBook Pro.

Mirror…Mirror, I find myself saying, reflecting on the fact that without my conscious knowledge I scheduled a coaching session today with Raj, a fellow coach who refers to me as ‘the mirror’.

We are eerily alike…watching him approach life is almost like watching myself in a movie. While coaching each other we take turns climbing in and out of the roles of experiencer and observer…knowing that in either role we’re learning far more about ourselves than we ever expect.

Whatever we work on is a lot like tumbling down the rabbit hole…we think we know where it might lead…but then we end up somewhere else, only to find out that this place is exactly where we needed to go.

In these sessions we’ve been tackling subjects like personal development heavyweights…we just go in and tear it up in the manner of those sorts of people who are completely comfortable with self exploration.

You know…those Steve Pavlina types, who approach life equipped with a kind of fearlessness…that absorbs every challenging aspect of the experience and creates in its place enthusiasm, excitement and a joyful readiness for change.

The Mirror Exercise

In honor of all the mirrors, reflections and rabbit holes in life I am sharing an exercise I created as a pathway to different parts of myself. Sometimes I see a future self that has accomplished my goals, sometimes it’s a younger self that wants to play, sometimes it’s a fantasy self that lives in another world…regardless, I can use the mirror as a pathway and the other part of myself as a guide.

To start this exercise, I imagine myself in a room that is empty save one item, a huge piece of furniture tucked against a far wall. This item is covered in a white sheet, so I can only see its outline. It reaches to the top of the ceiling, is oval in shape and very large. As I walk over…I am possessed with the desire to tear off the sheet, but before I do, I state this intention.

Mirror before me…that which I see
A perspective born anew…a reflection from you
I experience a dream…I’ve never before seen
Something helpful today…a new path…a new way…

And with that chant I rip the sheet off…knowing that what I see before me, is a symbolic exploration relevant to my current place of growth in life. I reach into the surface of the mirror which ripples with reflective color all around my arm. It feels silver, cold, wet and refreshing as I walk slowly through.

I look around to find myself inside the scene that appeared after my chant, I see myself staring at me from the other side. I sit watching the real world me. I see how she walks, talks, thinks and experiences life from her current point of view but I see so much more.

I can see the energy around her, the past events that are significant to her and the future possibilities she has yet to become aware of. I rewind her life to some of these past events to explore them and I fast forward to some of the future events until I have gained a perspective that satisfies me and then I exit the mirror…and go back to being myself…taking back with me, all the adventures I had on the other side of the looking glass

Comments

By Patricia - Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker on September 20th, 2007 at 12:21 pm

Paula, all I can say is “WOW!!!!”
I will definitely start working with this. What an incredible experience. I don’t mean unimaginable when I say incredible. I mean magical, mystical, spiritual and so much more. Thanks for the new tool.

By Patricia - Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker on September 20th, 2007 at 12:22 pm

I forgot. Happy Birthday. Have a glorious day.

By Paula Kawal on September 22nd, 2007 at 8:10 am

Thanks so much Patricia!

I was excited to hear about your perceptions of this technique! I’m in Southern California for a wedding right now so I’ve not been on the computer much since my birthday Thank you for the birthday wishes as well!

Much love,

pk