How We Look

We’ve experienced a lot of changes in the past year. The shaking up of our existence isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it helps us analyze what’s truly important, useful, and efficient, and what can be discarded. It helps us see things in new ways. Even ourselves.

“I can’t stand the way I look on Zoom. I’ve passed by plenty of mirrors in my time, but I’ve never seen myself as I appear in a Zoom meeting. I can see every little blemish and wrinkle, and my sheitel never looks normal.”

It’s not only Zoom business calls that challenge us these days; we’re zooming into simchahs, shiurim, family gatherings, social calls, and more. We’re seeing more of ourselves than ever as our little picture pops up on all those screens. But why do so many of us often dislike what we see there?

A person is so used to seeing herself in reverse (the way we all appear in mirrors) that to her, the reversed image becomes her familiar, recognizable, perfectly likable face. She’s shocked at the way she looks on Zoom, at her unreversed image! She’s seeing herself now the way others see her, and this can be an uncomfortable and even distressing experience.