Your close friends help you see yourself, like looking in a mirror reveals both your beauties and your flaws. That's part of the idea behind classical sociologist Charles Cooley's idea of the "Looking-Glass Self:" we derive our feelings about ourselves largely from how others esteem us. Cooley points out that this is especially true when it comes to our significant others (S.O.).
My S.O. is often my mirror. Yesterday, when T passed on a compliment from his friend to me, I pounced at the opportunity to "primp" in this so-called "mirror." I wanted to gobble down the compliments, as T put it. He then enacted a person scarfing down imaginary food with ravenous gobbling sounds and hand gestures. I got the message well in that moment: Tis not good to be too hungry for positive reflections! The nature of the compliment was about a topic I already knew about myself, so indulgence in it was not necessary. The line between humility and pride! I now see something new, that our S.O.'s can help us tred those lines delicately. Where we are proud, they can call us out; where we need encouragement and to hear positive truths about ourselves, they lift us up. Since two metaphors isn't enough for one blog post, may I add, as iron sharpens iron?
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