What you see when you look in the clay
The Mirror Effect
Emotional connections and behavioral patterns
In 1890, a psychologist named William James proposed the theory of emotional contagion coined from the idea that humans could adopt and reflect the behaviors and emotions of those around them (It was described as mimicking).
The mirror effect was discovered to be a form of nonverbal communication that triggers rapport and improves bonds among individuals. It further explains that humans sometimes mimic facial expressions too and the crazy part is, this could either be conscious or unconscious.
However true this theory is, if it is so easy to pick up traits and habits by being around certain people, it is an eye-opener that your environment and interactions with people make it easy for you to swerve and end up like them.
A mirror though made from clay undergoes a series of purification processes before it is finely refined to appear in a crystal-clear form, serving the purpose of reflecting what’s projected into it even until now.
Going by this theory of bond formation, characters and behavioral patterns could be formed also by getting involved with people or an environment. If this is true, then getting overly attached however could be unhealthy for character formation because, it shuts your eyes from seeing the wrong in people leading you to cultivate every habit exhibited by them as worthy of emulation, both good and bad.
I wrote an article some time ago titled You should get a mirror. In a part of that article, I explained briefly the benefits of choosing and keeping positive people in your corner.
I explained further that you are a reflection of your thoughts and actions.
When you constantly see, act or even talk like a particular person, you gravitate towards appearing like them too both in character and deeds and all these emerge from piled-up information stored up in your subconscious over a period, which is not bad at all so long as it is positive.
However, when you become overly immersed and your character traits change drastically, it could pull you in the opposite direction of where you should be headed.
Sapping good traits off people is good but sabotaging your abilities in the process is not. Check the picture quote below for what self-sabotage means.
Self-sabotage is a wide topic on its own and I’ll probably write about that some other time but for a deeper understanding of it, here is what my friend Peter Wirhun has to say about self-sabotage.
It’s in you!
If you get to a point where you thirst for change and growth or suddenly become uncomfortable with your current state of living, look inwardly because what you are looking for is not out there, it is in you.
What you project into the mirror is what it reflects on you, my friend.
To achieve or attain clarity and introspection about your true nature, read the article below!
Cheers to growth!
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