On reflection

Mirrors have always been troubling for me. They were things I may catch my eye in accidentally but certainly never lingered in and as I child of the 80s the movie The Poltergeist ensured I never ever looked directly at in the dark. Avoiding things I would be forced to see if I looked for too long.

For my final days in this place I never even intended to be in to start with, I have moved to the house next door. A house which is the exact mirror image of the one I have been living in for the last 3 years. Same living room, kitchen and bedroom. Same sofa and dining room table, same set of drawers next to the solid wood four poster bed, but all facing the opposite direction. All the same except for the full length mirror the previous tenant left when they moved out.

As the clock winds down and I think about my time in this beautiful place it seems apt that I'll be spending the last of it in this inverted version of my life here. Forcing me to reflect on who I was when I arrived and who the person that leaves will be.

In SE Asia there is a saying, 'Same same', with the occasional add-on ,'but different'. This mirrored life feels like that. I may not yet linger when I move past this full length mirror though, but I certainly do pause a second longer than I would have before.

Same same but irreversibly different.