It was my intention to look at a number of things to do before going to bed. But in the previous edition, I did not want to make it longer than what I thought was okay for that part. Yes, I did not also pre-inform my readers that there would be a second part of it. I just decided to leave things to ‘chance’ just in case I changed my mind. I did not want a straitjacket kind of journey so that we could all be as free and creative as possible.In thinking up the title for this edition, my thoughts were, therefore, dangling between two opinions: “Before You Go To Bed – 2” and “Stand Before Your Mirror”. On second thought, I was almost inclined to either of them. But a little further, in my thoughts, I thought up a mix or blend of both thoughts to make them harmonious. One could as well let it read thus: “Stand Before Your MIrror: Before You Go To Bed”. However it is looked at, I think it conveys the same meaning or weight of meaning regardless of that juxtaposition or transposition of ideas and thoughts. That is why we have what you see here (above as the title).
In light of the title, it is to be partly (or adequately) assumed here that everyone has got a mirror in their room. But if this assumption is true, does everyone have a kind of mirror that is big or large enough for one to stand before it? Suppose I do not have a giant mirror in my room: What should I do? Or, what do you think I should do if I do not have any mirror at all in my room? These are very reasonable or valid questions. And I should add or ask: Must everyone have a mirror in their room in the first instance? These questions should cause some thoughts – very preemptive thoughts – to begin to pop on our minds.
What is the use of a mirror at night when one should be going to bed? Would the sleep time be a moment for a beauty contest? Would one be meeting some slay queens (or kings) in the dream? Or, are some angels going to be visiting at night? This thought of standing before the mirror before going to bed seems queer and a very humorous one. Certainly a very comic one. Yes, it is. No, it is not! I cannot forget what is usually said in my local parlance. Our people usually say that it is in the time of beauty that one begins to seek a mirror. Put differently, the mirror only comes out as far as one is thinking about beauty. So, what has beauty got to do with our sleep time? And what kind of beauty is one even talking about?
Imagine that sleep is a journey to paradise, will you want to embark on it unprepared? This sounds like a very scary question. But do not bother. We are not journeying to paradise as it were. But my people also say that we should use sleep to know what death is like. What that means is that sleep is a foretaste of death. When we sleep, we become unconscious of our physical environment to a very large extent. But that is not our major concern here. There are two major sides to this discourse: the aspect of beauty and that of a journey to paradise. We have to concern ourselves chiefly with the sphere of beauty. The question that should be brought to the fore here is: Is it needful trying to do a beauty check-up in the night before one goes to the bed? The simple answer is YES. This is what we have to explore in the succeeding lines and discussions.
When we go out to face the day’s business, we meet a lot of things that try to destroy or dampen the beauty of our lives. Those things make us begin to lose our sense of beauty about life and living. We lose a sense of direction. At times, we become lives driven here and there by the boisterous waves of the seas of life, thereby fearfully and aimlessly journeying to dead-ends. Our optimism level nosedives – crash landing at the lowest ebb. Our clear sense or definition of success and or failure gets brutally bruised and badly distorted. Sometimes, our self-concept and self-esteem are poisoned or negatively affected. The (once great or) robust zeal we have to pursue our dreams gets deflated like a balloon pierced by a very sharp needle. With these daily barrages of negatives we come in contact with in a world full of negative people, critical fault-finders, pessimists, envious and jealous people, religious fanatics, ethnic bigots, etc. etc., the tendency to become negative is always there. It is even very high. It is very tempting to take a different route, except for minds that have trained themselves through self-discipline and the deliberate inculcation of positive values, which are in turn super-imposed on personal explanations of the experiences and interpretations of life and living.
Amidst these very obvious things that happen in the environment that is full of negatives, the very thing that results is that the beauties of life and living are very profusely tampered with. Minds begin to decay and lose their own very essence. Minds lose their sanity. In that circumstance, their perception and acceptance of the beauties of life are heavily distorted. And they (the distorted perception and acceptance of life’s beauties) rub off on the very essence of such human minds. This counterproductive interplay of distortions of beauties of life and living with human minds leads up to another kind of Babel – a very chaotic state of human experience. Thus, humanity performs an orchestra of cacophonies. Should one think that the ripple effects would not be felt across board in humanity’s experiences?
If I do not find any beauty in the kind of life I live, I am already on the downward side of the journey of life. No matter how beautiful life is, I will continue to fight within myself. How beautiful is it when I fight with myself? Imagine that I am having a very fierce battle with (or within) myself! The battle that goes on in my inner environment certainly manifests in my outward or external environment. What if I am able to behold the beauty of life (and living)? Don’t you think that will as well help me to behold the beauty in me and vice versa?
We are coming before the mirror not because we are preparing for a beauty contest. It is just that we need to realise the beauty in us so that we can appreciate the beauty of life and living. This renewed perception, on a daily basis, has a great deal of ‘magic’ or ‘miracle’ it performs in us. Our inner person gets a fresh and evergreen touch with life’s positive vibe as a result of this renewed perspective to life. Life becomes more interesting, enriching, insightful, inspiring and much more.
I supposed everyone does not have to have a mirror. But, it is sure, everyone does understand what the mirror does or what they have got to do with the mirror. The mirror helps to reflect the image of whatever is put before it: whether it is living or nonliving; human or non-human. We must have this on our minds and then go beyond looking at the mirror itself as just a physical object before which we stand. In other words, we could be thinking of it in terms of an unseen object before which we could bring our unseen realities – the realities of our souls and spirits – beyond the realities of the realms of physicality (where our bodies are materially domiciled). Then, we can sincerely x-ray our human souls and spirits to see how beautiful they are. This is very important because it is what our souls and spirits capture that we get to express or reflect bodily. Our bodies cannot find fitter, finer and richer expressions than what our souls and spirits have nursed or nurtured. It is very particularly important to state or clarify this fact if we must be very frank with ourselves.
So, stand before your mirror. It might be the physical one or the spiritual one. Whichever suits you. Savour the beautiful work God created. See how the Maker demonstrated His matchless love and craftsmanship by coming up with such a MASTERPIECE called… (what is your name, please?). It is in this obvious realisation that you are a masterpiece that you begin to lovingly cherish your life. You begin to see the beauty (or handsomeness) in you beyond what lies on the surface. This equally helps you to begin to see or understand that your life is worth much more than what life seems to promise and or project on the surface. Your life is a beauty or a wonder to behold. Then, why would you live it recklessly as if it meant and means nothing more than a piece of cosmetic attachment to the universe? There is more – much more – to life and living than what this generation of artificiality and superficiality does (promise and project daily).
Eze Echie Scholar, Prolific Author, Poet, Editor, Music Minister, Critic & Columnist writes in from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NIgeria.
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