Hall of Mirrors:

Looking at a painting in my room (shown), it reminds me of a hall of mirrors. The image in the mirror isn’t exactly the same as the one looking at it, but some kind of version of it. The painting reminds me of how life is a lot like a Fun House I went to at the state fair. You go in with a group of people, some you know, some you don’t know, and everyone is just hoping to have a good time. Entering the fun house, there are all kinds of obstacles to get through, startling sounds, swaying bridges, walkways that move back and forth, shaky places, spinning disks and rolling tunnels. Much like a Picasso painting, it’s all mixed up and you hold on until you make it to the next phase, a lot like the childhood phase.

Then you enter the maze of the glass house where you begin to walk with both feet on the ground and things seem more rational, but you have to feel your way around through the invisible barriers, sometimes bumping into invisible walls and sometimes confronted or confused by mirrors. You can see the people who entered with you, but it’s not always easy to know how to get to them, and you may go in circles or run into dead ends. Someone may seem close to you and you smile and wave, but there are invisible walls that separate you until you can find your way. Sometimes you hook up again, and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you can see the crowd outside, but an invisible barrier separates you from them also, and they laugh like an audience as they watch you feeling your way along, lost in the clarity of the maze. You might even make faces at them or act silly in a way you wouldn’t do if the glass wall wasn’t there, even though they’re not far away and can still see you.

Finally, when you make it through the maze, you enter a room which is the most surreal. The room is a hall of mirrors of all shapes and sizes; however, the images are a warped version of the person looking into them. This reminds me a lot of the growing phases, when the person who is on the inside somehow doesn’t match the one in the reflection, and you wonder who is staring back at you from the mirror. Luckily, your friends that are with you look just as mixed up, so you can laugh and make jokes about it, realizing the reflection is not the same as the person looking into it. It helps to realize the value of the perspective of others, especially when we no longer trust our own reflection, question ourselves, or fear what we might see.

After thinking about this, one of my friends posted some new photos on myspace.com of himself with his girlfriend going through the funhouse with the mirrors. I was right, it was funny to look at, but it’s also a relief to know that what you see in the reflection isn’t always the whole picture. Somehow you feel initiated into 'a world full of carnies' when you’ve made it through the fun house and when you come out the other side, you feel ready to tackle the next big ride!