Do You Look Different in Mirrors and Photos? Here’s Why That’s Okay.

I’m not the only one right? Who looked at a particular angle of myself in a photo and thought. “Wait a minute, that looks nothing like me!”

It’s actually a common issue among us ladies, especially when we start taking more and more photos for shoots or social media. And there’s a simple reason we look different in photos and mirrors.

Mirrors are in reverse. Duh, I know.

When people tell you a photo you took of yourself is amazing (even though you think it’s trash) it’s often true that it is amazing. Mostly because your friends or whoever is sharing their opinion only get to see you in your non-reversed state and to them, there is no difference. But to us, well, we look like strangers to ourselves.

You might also have noticed that the you in photos is very different from the you in mirrors.

Because it’s such a big deal, research has actually been done regarding this issue and it’s been discovered that we don’t often like what we see in the mirror because it seems unfamiliar. It has to do with this thing researchers like to call the exposure effect. That we, as humans, are more comfortable with things that feel familiar to us or things we see frequently.

So why is this such a big deal and why am I talking about it?

Well, a lot of people don’t like who they see when they look in the mirror and I think that’s being unfair to ourselves. A lot of ladies don’t like how they look in selfies and continue to undermine their own beauty because of angles they’re not used to.

Many people have their esteem heavily affected by this, and I think it’s something we as ladies need to help each other address. If you sometimes get stressed with how you look in photos and mirrors remember that who we see is not an exact depiction of our non-reversed image. 

I believe using the exposure effect that I mentioned is a good way to get us  appreciating and liking our photographs more; even the ones we believe didn’t ‘come out well.’ 

Think of it as a photo exercise — every once in a while you take a bunch of photos and you don’t delete the ones that make you feel uncomfortable. You don’t have to post them if you don’t want to; the exercise is meant for you. It’ll help you  get used to seeing yourself from angles that wouldn’t be possible without technology.

It makes for good confidence building because you get to appreciate your features and re-learn yourself all over again without feeling shame or like you’re not good enough. 

Start small, take twenty-odd photos, and scroll through them without deleting. Really appreciate what you’re seeing, you miracle you 🙂

You can delete them after you’re done with them. Then when next you’re ready, you can do it again. 

As Goddesses, we own everything we are, flaws and all. The reason I say it’s okay to feel uncomfortable with angles of ourselves we are not used to seeing is because we can work on it. And when we learn to get used to parts of ourselves that we don’t really like, it becomes one less thing to worry about. Something that can’t be used against us.

After all, our golden minds are better used for more than worrying whether we look good or not. 

We do look good. We just need to continue owning the good and the bad we see in ourselves.

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