This laughing gull was bobbing up and down on swells in the East River near the Brooklyn shore. The moving surface of the water distorted and redrew its reflection.
“Silence. How long it lasted, I couldn’t tell. It might have been five seconds, it might have been a minute. Time wasn’t fixed. It wavered, stretched, shrank. Or was it me that wavered, stretched, and shrank in the silence? I was warped in the folds of time, like a reflection in a fun house mirror.” Haruki Murakami, from Dance Dance Dance.
“Mirrors are perpetually deceitful. They lie and steal your true self. They reveal only what your mind believes it sees.” Dee Remy, from There Was Once a Boy.
“Bewilderment increases in the presence of the mirrors.” Tarjei Vessas, from The Boat in the Evening.
“Look in the mirror and one thing’s sure; what we see is not who we are.” Richard Bach.
“Mirrors,’ she said, ‘are never to be trusted.”Neil Gaiman, from Coraline.
“Mirrors should think longer before they reflect.” Jean Cocteau.
Julie Feinstein
I am a Collection Manager at the American Museum of Natural History, an author, and a photographer. I live in New York City. I recently published my first popular science book, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, an illustrated collection of natural history essays about common animals. I update my blog, Urban Wildlife Guide, every Sunday.
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