One of the clearest memories I have of my childhood is going to the grocery with my mother and sisters. I went to the dairy case as instructed to pick something up for my mother, and remember looking into the right side of the case and seeing my face reflected in the mirrors on either side. Because these two mirrors faced each other, I saw a series of me's looking back, each perplexed and fascinated by the sight of endless reflection.
I've thought about that experience much since then, and have never lost my fascination with reflection. I believe firmly that it is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Why? Notice what happens to your mind and awareness as you do the following:
Right now you are reading this blog. In your mind's eye, step back behind yourself and notice yourself reading this blog. Just watch yourself reading.
Now take this one step further, and take another step back behind the person who is watching you reading this blog. You are now watching yourself watch yourself.
Try it again, and take one more step back. You are now watching yourself watching yourself watch yourself. Keep repeating this process as many times as you can.
Now, tell me this: What happens to your mind and your awareness as you do this? If you experience what I experience, then your mind seems to stretch and your awareness grows as you increase the layers of reflection. Why? Because reflection creates awareness. Reflection magnifies and extends awareness. Reflection builds awareness.
Perhaps this is why reflective tools like journaling, dream intepretation, spiritual direction, and meditation (to mention but a few) are so powerful ... because they generate awareness. Awareness is a critical outcome of inner archaeology work, hence reflection is a key tool we can use in inner archaeology to produce the awareness we need to discover and respond to our calling.
Which brings me to a core Inner Archaeology principle:
Reflective self-discovery generates awareness of calling: If you seek to know who you are, look within first.
