We
may use our hands to touch ourselves, but we are unable to touch the totality
of ourselves. We are unable to even touch all of ourselves, only a portion of
the outside. There are parts we are unable to reach, at least without practice
and training. As we train and become more flexible the area we are able to
touch increases, but it is still not one hundred percent. Can we touch our
internal organs? No. They are a part of us, vital to our existence and
survival, but out of reach. So overall we cannot touch ourselves, only a
portion of ourselves at a given moment, and never in totality. If I were to
touch my hands I would form my opinion of what I am feeling “a little rough,
but not too bad”. When another person, such as my wife or son, touches the skin
on my hands and comments “your hands are really rough”, this is a “reflection”
of the state of the skin, the state of their own skin is the “distortion” of
the “mirror”. As I receive this reflection it passes again through my opinions
including the opinions about the “mirror” “I'm not sure that my hands are
rough, but they don't usually exaggerate so it must be true”, and I decide on a
course of action “I should use some moisturizing lotion on my hands”.
When
we speak we hear ourselves, but this is not how others hear us. The voice we
hear in our ears is modified and adjusted by the anatomy of the skull. We hear
ourselves, but only partially, and never totally. The only way we have to hear
more of ourselves is to use a “mirror” be it technological or a person, to
record ourselves and play the audio back or to ask for a description of how we
sound. As we speak and hear ourselves, we form an opinion of how we sound. The
recording device and recording technique have their distortions, compounded by
the distortions of the playback device. If it is a person we are using to
reflect how we sound, then the quality of their hearing adds a distortion, as
well as their opinions, and finally how eloquently they can describe how we
sound. The resultant sound or description then gets filtered by our opinions
again, and we arrive at an idea of how we sound. Do we sound melodious, nasal,
high pitched, pleasant or unpleasant, did the other person cringe or smile?
This “reflection” is the closest we get to hearing ourselves, and possibly
becomes the basis to initiate action such as speaking slower, faster, clearer,
with a different tone, louder or softer. As we continue to adjust, or not, how
we sound we continue to only hear a portion of ourselves.
To be continued...
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