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Mirrors…

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By Radical Rhymes

We are surrounded by mirrors, aren’t we? Both literally and figuratively. We see reflections of ourselves everywhere. In books, movies, in the way people behave and interact around us.

Sometimes it’s not so much an actual reflection, but an aspiration. An act that we wish we’d been responsible for, or a trait that we wished we had. Strength, nobility, a self-effacing desire to see justice done. Am I the only one who reads or watches something evocative and feels changed by it, even if only for a short while?

Come on, admit it, for a moment you are Jean Valjean or Hermione Grainger or Blade or… you get the picture.

These figurative mirrors are more powerful than ordinary ones though, because of their ability to enhance our reflections, to imbue us with the superpowers of Storm or the Hulk. It can radiate through us for a fair while.

Of course, the negative aspect of this process is that these figures can arouse a terrible hopelessness, a helplessness, or a sense of inadequacy. Why can’t I be braver? Stronger? More selfless? Why can’t I fly like Superman? Why can’t I save the world?

And that is the flip side of reflections, we can see ourselves in the worst characters, the worst behaviours. The selfish, greedy, cowardly characters. Am I Uriah Heep? Does Thanos have a point? Is everything bleak because the outside merely reflects the darkness within?

That has been my greatest fear throughout my life. It is why I have been unable to look into a mirror properly since I was very young. Even today, if I am walking through a shop with mirrors running down either side of an aisle I have to fix my eyes ahead and hurry through it, or, better still take an entirely different route.

In some ways it can be liberating, inasmuch as I don’t spend hours in front of mirrors worrying about the lines or grey hairs that are appearing, but it is difficult to shave without carving lumps out of myself. It is debilitating to avoid your own image at any cost.

It’s the same for photographs. I will do all I can to avoid them. The age of the selfie will pass me by, which again, can be good or bad I suppose.

In the end, I’m not sure whether it’s the surface I abhor, or whether it’s the darkness inside me. The bipolar, accelerated by aspects of my upbringing, has led me to do many things I regret, many things I’d like to expunge or make right.

Mirrors serve to highlight my flaws, and yet I am beginning to come to terms with that more these days. And let’s be frank, we all have to face ourselves every day because mirrors aren’t going anywhere…

Radical Rhymes is a professional artist working with a range of media – predominantly animal/human portraits and landscapes – including, most recently, hand painted furniture. You can see his work on Instagram Radicalrhymes1969 or on Twitter @RhymesRadical.

For commissions, please contact him on Twitter via Direct Message or by email at: radicalrhymes@outlook.com His work is also available to buy on Etsy

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