Self-Portraits

In each glass mirror that I see,

I glimpse a strange familiar at times unknown to me.

I decided to take the prompt as a way to explore the different emotions and feelings that I experience and express through photographs that I've taken to depict what stares back at me when I look at the mirror.

At times we all feel a sense of helpless, as if the world is just caving in us, piling one rock at a time on our shoulders. We all just need a little help sometimes, and whether we ask for it or not, our baskets are out before us displaying for the world to see that we are vulnerable and all we need is an outstretched hand and a little love to pick us back up again.
To know the joy of a child is the greatest feeling in the world. All of us, no matter what age has an inner-child either squelched and ready to break free or one that is overzealous and therefore appreciates all that is set before them. That feeling that makes us excited, stand in awe and surprises us makes life experiences inexhaustable. This is another side of my mirror which I hope always stays with me.

Curiosity is another aspect of human nature. Though war, destruction, and ugliness surround us, the beauty of love between human beings and the beauty of the world around us somehow makes the good outway the bad. With curiosity comes understanding. If we are just willing to seek the answers and willing to see the glass as half full rather than half empty, then we, even if few in numbers, can make the world a better place.

All pictures were taken by me. The first is of a beggar in Pisa, Italy. The second picture is of a small Peruvian child in Ollantaytambo, Peru. The third photograph is of a street artist in Florence, Italy.