Dedicated to Inspired Expressions of Life's Energy
Eye of the Beholder By Lisa Reber
Nature's Pathways - September 2011
Vinnie and Maiden
I had an English bulldog named Vinnie a few years back.I thought he was the most handsome dog ever.I loved everything about him!He was 90 lbs and had a 36 inch chest; he was impressive. The first thing most people said when they saw Vinnie was, “What an ugly dog!”I would reply with, “that’s really rude, you wouldn’t say that to a human!” Then there’s my nineteen year old Manx cat named Maiden.She weighs about 17 pounds and is shaped like a little bear, which is how her breed is described.People will often blurt out in her presence, “My God, what a fat cat!”I immediately ask them, “you wouldn’t say that to another human so why is it okay to say it to my cat?” These moments have popped into my awareness when I look at myself in the mirror.I keep hearing those exclamations as I view the ‘moon face’ that I don’t recognize reflecting back at me or when I’m spending a half hour looking for something that fits comfortably. I’ve always prided myself on staying trim through exercise and healthy eating.It has been frustrating to be unable to do so much for so long and then balloon up like the blueberry girl in Willie Wonka! Society (mass consciousness) focuses our attention on what is to be considered as beautiful and all of the ways in which you can achieve that beauty; diets, cosmetic surgery, exercise regiments, teeth straightening/whitening, etc.It is to the point that many have become obsessed by appearance.The fact that I have been ‘terminally ill’ seems a moot point to me, at times.For I don’t recognize this body that my personality is inhabiting. As life crises’ and health issues so often go, I thought I was on the upswing and things were looking better.I’m tapering off the large doses of steroids thinking the extra pounds it created would start falling off daily!Well, something fell off, or out, and it wasn’t the extra pounds.It was my hair!By the handful! I’m not sure if I got my visualization mixed up or if this is some sort of great cosmic joke.My hair had stopped growing when I was started on the steroids and I’ve been imagining it growing again.So, what is a metaphysical healer to do when the Universe throws baldness into the mix?She shaves her head and laughs about it! Seriously, I had to ask myself why this weight gain was so hard for me and the answer was humbling.It’s truly a mirror; a mirror of that which I judge most harshly is being reflected back at me as me.How does a person rectify or face a mirror like that? The first step is to become aware of what the mirror in life is showing you.Then it is a matter of allowing yourself to become aware of when you started this pattern or belief about yourself and your reality.This is not a difficult or hard process. Once something has been brought into your awareness you cannot become unaware of it.You can deny, but it will continue to appear and the pattern will repeat in your life more strongly. In the reflection of my life, I’ve come face to face with my judgment of the physical body.I’ve had to look into the mirror and see my fear of becoming fat.It goes back to my days in high school.It’s why I got so defensive when people made comments about how ugly my dog was and my cat being fat. I’m ‘hearing’ fat isn’t acceptable. As I live through this experience with my body, I am so grateful for all the things I have learned spiritually over the years.The Essene’s (a Jewish religious group that practiced 2,000 years ago) left us with this concept that our external lives are a manifestation, mirror and reflection of our inner life.They also left us with instructions on how to recognize the various mirrors and heal the underlying issues being reflected.My husband and I have found this to be a powerful tool to use in our lives, incorporate it in much of what we do and have gained deep healing from them. So, the next time I see the bald lady with the ‘moon face’ looking back at me, I’m going to tell her she’s beautiful and mean it!
