Mirrors - A reflection
By Kristy Lam
Waking up “Waking up begins with saying am and now. That which has awoken then lies for a while staring up at the ceiling and down into itself until it has recognised I, and therefrom deduced I am, I am now.” - Christopher Isherwood
The chain of intricate biological mechanisms that occurs once you wake up - the activation of your brain stem, the rise in your blood pressure, the increase in norepinephrine and orexin levels - all culminate towards one ultimate goal. To allow yourself to be present. This notion may seem incredibly unpoetic, but novelist Isherwood reinforced how such emotionally-void actions are what ironically allow us to ‘humanise’ ourselves as we start our day. You might then peer outside the window to examine what pleasantries the world will bestow upon you today. You may be welcomed by an array of glistening skyscrapers that shoot up like plants from the earth, a vision likened to a canvas erratically smeared with monotonous shades of tan and grey - not a particularly enthralling sight. The typical routine that will follow afterwards would be you forcing yourself out of the soft embrace of your blankets as you begrudgingly shuffle your way towards the bathroom. By this time, the veil of sleep that had initially surrounded you should be beginning to dissipate. You might start to think to yourself - What’s on my schedule today? The bathroom seemed like a canvas sloppily smeared with various cool hues of blue, with the exception of the subtle glint of the mirror that reflected skewers of the morning sunlight - further influencing the biological aspects of your body to rev into action. Despite knowing the objectives of the day that you want to achieve, this is almost completely useless information unless one has greater clarity as to why they want to execute such goals. You lift your head. This will most likely be the first time each day in which you would have glimpsed a physical vessel dazed from sleep - stitched by various sinewy fibres and compacted together by a layer of skin. The very body that you will have for the rest of your life.
