Reflecting on the reflections

Lately I have seen a lot of pictures using reflections: off water, mirrors and even a rain soaked street. For some reason, pictures like these cause me to (pardon the pun) reflect on what I can learn from them. In many instances, it is hard to tell which side is the real object and which is the reflection. This realization taught me something about people, sometimes what you are seeing is a reflection, one that can be completely disturbed by one drop of water. The ripple effect from this single drop of water will keep moving through the water, causing the whole image to change. Once these ripples show themselves, the real object can be indentified. Then, when viewing the image again, it is much easier to find the real thing again.



Maybe it is just me, but I have recently discovered my mistakes in seeing past a reflection. People seem to hide behind reflections of themselves. This is fine as long as no one disturbs the water. I have seen a lot of water be disturbed in the past few weeks. Maybe its not me, it could be that I am just around when the ripples start moving through the water. For me, the hardest part about this is accepting that I have only known a reflection, not an actual person. What causes someone to hide behind their reflection?

This question is the reason my mind has been occupied with this subject. I am hoping that I can figure out the answer through my writing, or maybe through readers opinions. Most of these people are in a fluid period of their lives. Getting ready to go on missions, figuring out life/career plans or just gliding through life without any specific plan. Personally, I am confronting some big changes of my own, but I tried to not let that effect my relationships with other, aside from the obvious changes that come with marriage. I remember three years ago waiting for my call, wondering where I would spend the next two years of my life. I tried to use the time before I left to figure out how I was able to form relationships with people. Male, female, young, old, it was a great time to be myself and see what worked and what didnt. Whether or not that was the right thing to do is not what I am worried about. It worked great for me as I was able to really connect and form strong relationships with many different people in Brazil. I am just trying to figure out why these people, who are in such fluid parts of life, dont let themselves be themselves. Is it me?



These thoughts are a lot more coherent in my head. I honestly dont know if anything that I have written even makes sense. I guess I will find out when Shaylee or my dad read it, as they understand my thought better than just about anyone.

Do I encourage those around me to hide behind their reflections because of my actions or feelings towards them? Do my openly and well known opinions cause others to hold back their own opinions?

Too often over the past months have "secret" parts of peoples lives come to light. The thing is, everyone seems to know and understand these things other than me...(Full Disclosure :) I am finishing this post a few days later. The answer came to me sitting in institute yesterday)

Too many people live their lives behind Facebook or MySpace profiles. In fact, I am "friends" with people who will not return a phone call, but will respond to a facebook wall posting within 10 minutes. I have a Facebook page and enjoy using it, but I try not to use it as my main form of communication. More and more, young adults are turning their online personalities into the real person, using a reflection with those who arent familiar with the real thing. They dont hold back online, but wont even express the mildest of opinions to your face.

Society is turning into an online social networking site. I have made a goal to really try and only use these sites when normal means of communication prove too difficult. I dont want the vision of me in others heads to turn into one of me at the edge of a lake, trying to figure out which one is the real me.