The Nordstrom at the nearest mall has a magic mirror.
I’m totally not making this up.
The mirror at the end of the hallway inside the dressing room makes me look 6 inches taller and 20 pounds lighter. My legs are long in that mirror. My face, too. I think, in fact, that I look svelte in that mirror. And, trust me, svelte is nothing normal for me.
Magic Mirrors. I want one.
Here’s what happened: I walked in to the dressing room, tried on a pair of jeans (which, by the way, FIT me – I know!), and as I walked out to get an opinion from Kids 1 and 2, I saw myself. I had some trouble holding back a screech. I was FABULOUS. I grabbed the girls and said, “You ‘ve got to try this!” They came in and gaped at their reflections. They twisted and vamped in front of that magic mirror, getting eyes-full of those long, stretched bodies. I knew I’d regret looking too closely, because of the inevitable return to the totally prosaic mirror inside the dressing cube. So I only looked too closely for a second.
*Sigh*
I wonder, if I had a magic mirror of my own, would I trust it? Would I start to believe what I saw? Or would I always know that somewhere, there’s a totally normal mirror that reflects the truth? Would I buy into the image? Or would I know I was kidding myself?
And who cares? If I felt beautiful for thirty seconds every day, would that be worth it?
(The answer is YES.)
And what if I had a magic mirror for my writing? Would I stop being the oversensitive, validation-starved, snivelling doubter I’ve always been if I could, even for a few seconds a day, see the svelte version of my work?
Hm. Methinks there is something to this.
(8) Comments for this blog
Oh my! You are that Becca! Of course I have heard of your books, but now I am going to go get one to read. Sorry, I am currently in school and teaching sp. ed. kindergarten so have been out of the loop on reading for pleasure. So nice to quickly meet you last night.
20 pounds lighter? So did you pretty much disappear? Honestly, woman! And guess what? I’m not going to be at the Whitneys. BOO! So when you win, be sure to tell everyone how much more meaningful the award would be if DeNae were in the audience!
Only you could compare body image to writing (and successfully, I might add).
Magic Mirror?
Yes, please!
I am still laughing at how fin it was to meet you last night. I mean, really, what are the odds? Your blog is gorgeous, it’s been fun to poke around tonight. Looking forward to reading more.
Niiccceeee post. I need to look in that mirror. Just wanted to let you know that I pitched to Lisa Mangum yesterday and guess what. It. Was. Amazing. Chris Shoelbinger (I won’t even pretend I spelled that right) was in the pitch too, and they seemed very excited about my book. So, Lisa has the first five pages and hopefully she’ll like what she sees. Maybe I’ll see you in passing tonight. Good luck at the Whitneys.
Becca,
I saw your book on the table at TOFW here in Indy. I got so giddy and told my friend who you are! SO FUN!!! oh and can I have a magic mirror as well!
Becca, what a treat to meet you the other night. Looking forward to visiting your blog more!
PS: I need a mirror like that, too. 🙂
I really want that mirror. Not for the body image but for the confidence–to see something better in myself for just a moment.