October 20, 2014

The Looking Glass


Tracy Newman ( Photo by James F. Dean)



Recently I was in a building supply store buying some grout, and as I passed through the bath section, I caught a glimpse of myself from a distance in a mirror.

 "My gawd," I thought, "I've never looked so bad."

Have you ever seen your reflection in a window and thought the same thing?

My next thought was that the lighting was awful in there. My inclination was to walk past the mirror again, and have another peek, as I wanted to see if things were as shocking the second go round, but I got distracted and moved on.

Or perhaps I was just afraid.

Out in the car, I had a look in the rear view mirror and felt much better. I concluded again that poor lighting and reflections in windows do in fact suck the color out of our faces.

For the most part I am coasting with the aging process. I really do see the beauty in it. For sure it is far easier to embrace it and be grateful for the opportunity- then to always be pining for younger years.

But-

But every once in awhile I am caught dead in my tracks.


This week musician and writer Tracy Newman sings about the looking glass in her song "I Just See You". She wrote the song after someone asked her what she sees when she looks in the mirror.

Tracy has written for numerous shows, including Cheers, Ellen, and According to Jim. She won an Emmy for writing the ground-breaking "coming out" episode on Ellen. Tracy is also sisters with actress Laraine Newman.

I love her lyrics:

"There’s a mirror on the bookcase,
In the hallway by the stairs
She always steals a look when she walks by
She stops to clean her glasses,
Shakes her head and heaves a sigh
She can’t believe the lines around her eyes...."

Tracy thank you for sharing your song with us.