Reflections are a natural phenomenon and lots of things are able to reflect images of objects or other things in their surroundings.
Mirrors, obviously, are the best man made reflectors, which are made from a flat piece of glass with a silvered backing. And even plain glass in windows, glasses, etc. can give a very recognisable reflection. Water in many forms - lakes, ponds, puddles, the sea, or even water droplets - is nature’s very own mirror and was the inspiration for that first ever man made one.

The earliest mirrors were not made of glass, but of highly polished pieces of stone, such as obsidian which is a volcanic glass. Then as metal working came into use, mirrors were made of highly polished flat pieces of copper, silver or bronze, and these were highly valued by their wealthy owners.
Flat metal-backed glass mirrors, as we know them, first came into use during the middle ages, but actually began 2,000 years ago when pieces of a blown glass bubble were used to give a rather distorted vision of its owner. Again these were mostly owned by wealthy people.
With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, flat panes of glass could be made in bulk and the use of silver nitrate to coat the back of the glass made mirrors affordable by all.

Mirrors are subject to a lot of superstition. It was once thought that a mirror was a doorway into another parallel world and that lost souls could be sucked into there. That led to the belief that breaking one was bad luck.

Of course, reflection isn’t just external. We can reflect within ourselves and show ourselves what we would like things to be, not just what is.

And we can also reflect other people or animals around us and mirror their behaviour.
Yawning for me is a huge one - I see any animal or person yawning in real life or in a picture, or even just acting sleepy, and my own sleepy mode engages!! Even just reading the word “yawn” can start me off.
There are clever little nerves in the brain that handle all of that: mirror neurons!!

Do you find yourself reflecting the behaviour of people around you, as with yawning, needing to clear your throat, etc?

Otherwise, let’s just reflect on this subject and share any pictures, gifs, memes, videos or music to do with reflections or items that reflect like water, mirrors etc!!

All are welcome. And please feel free to recommend and share all discussions you enjoy.

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