Your Face is a Mirror of your Thoughts

Spiritual path travelers below the age of 30, stop reading; what I write about simply doesn't apply to you, but one day it will, so you might as well continue reading.

Have you ever seen an 'older' person getting lost in thoughts? Dark thoughts they must be otherwise you wouldn't see so much anguish, conflict and misery. We have no clue what is happening to our faces when we contemplate strive, worries, lust, our career and social status, etc.. Erich Fromm once said, "over 40, you are responsible for your face". Put differently, you look like what you think you are.

I have discovered one remedy though. Meet people and interact with them. Experience how when you meet them your face lights up. You do not think, you dance with them, and your face will show it. Of course, if you carry some psychological baggage with you vis-a-vis your brother and sister, the trick will not work. Your face will show all the reservations you have.

I recommend running the following experiment: try catching yourself with the help of a mirror, or a video camera while you get lost in your thoughts. Study how different the person you see there looks from the person you expect to see. After this experiment, chances are you will catch the mental bubbles of competition, worries, lust, the hunger for social recognition and wealth, etc., as you become aware of your train of thoughts. This bubble will burst immediately when you remember how different that person looks like right now from the real you.