Giving a mirror as a gift
Giving a mirror as a gift cuts a friendship, warned a superstition printed in 1903. A mirror is also a gift about perspective, and the image you give back to someone in daily life matters more than the glass.
What it may mean
A mirror is an odd present: the person who receives it will never look at it without seeing themselves. You choose the frame and size, and so part of how someone meets their own face every morning. That makes it a gift about perspective. An old worry held that a mirror given between friends could cool the friendship, perhaps because so much of a mirror's work is private. There is a kinder thought in the custom, though. Friends act as mirrors all the time, showing each other a version of themselves through the way they listen, praise and tease. If you are choosing a mirror for someone, the better question may be what image of them you hand back in daily life: generous, honest, tired, hopeful. That image lasts longer than glass.
Depending on how you saw it
A mirror as a wedding gift
Large mirrors often go to couples setting up a first home, where they make small rooms look bigger and brighter. The couple will see themselves in it together for years. What do you hope two people see when they look at themselves side by side?
A hand mirror or compact
A small mirror in a bag is used for quick checks before meetings, dates and photos. It is the gift of a last glance before stepping out. Which small way of checking yourself do you rely on before you face a room full of people?
An antique mirror
Old mirrors often show dark spots where the silver backing has aged, and they come with years of faces already behind them. Some people love that history. Whose faces passed through a mirror like this before yours?
A mirror for a child's room
A child's mirror is where they practice faces, try on costumes and slowly learn what they look like. It is a small daily teacher. What would you like a child to see when they look at themselves?
Why it happens in nature
Mirrors are popular gifts for new homes because they bounce light and make rooms feel larger, but they are heavy and break easily in transit. Old mirrors were backed with a tin and mercury layer, later with silver, and their dark spots come from that backing aging over time.
To reflect on
What image of themselves do the people close to you see when they are with you?