Consulting the Mirror on the Wall

There is nothing wrong with mirrors. The question is whether we remember who is looking into them.

Today, we explore the difference between reflection and replacement — and how to return to the steady voice inside.

External guidance is a lot like a fun house mirror. It shows you something real… but not necessarily something whole. 

Astrology may reflect your ambition.
An oracle may reflect your longing.
A healer may reflect your unprocessed grief.
The news may reflect your fear.
A friend’s story may reflect your doubt.
Even a search engine may reflect your uncertainty.

None of these are inherently dangerous; its more subtle than that.

Without consulting your intuition first, your ego decides the perspective in which you receive the reflection. And the ego, especially when unsettled, tends to choose the version that feels most urgent, dramatic, or validating.

External guidance begins to feel like direction. When it was only ever meant to be reflection. I once watched this unfold in the smallest, most ordinary way.

One of the clearest moments I ever experienced with inner guidance happened on an ordinary evening at the Paramus mall. Leila was small enough that crowds still swallowed her. We were moving from store to store when, in a split second, she was no longer beside Robert.

There is a particular kind of silence that happens in a mother’s body before panic rises.

In that silence, I heard it — not a voice exactly, but a knowing. Clear. Directional. Calm.

"Ask the woman in front of the escalator. She knows where Leila is."

Confronted by my oldest daughter's tear streaked face, I stopped to comfort her and asked where she thinks her sister may have gone. We checked a dress shop, toys store, and arcade but no Leila. Every instinct that could have spiraled into fear softened just enough for me to follow that original, inner nudge. I steadily followed the woman in front of the escalator and there Leila was — unharmed and completely relieved to see us.

But later, I couldn’t stop thinking about how often we do this — how quickly we look outward in place of something we could have felt from within. How often do I override my own guidance? How much smoother does my life feel when I trust it the first time?

That experience is something I will expand on more deeply another time. But it marked me. It reminded me that intuition does not shout. It does not perform or distort. It simply knows.

And yet, I also deeply respect the esoteric tools. I have sat with tarot cards in moments of uncertainty. I have studied astrology. I have received healings and intuitive readings that illuminated aspects of myself I hadn’t yet language for. I curated the brightly illustrated Real Talk Tarot Deck for Shop the Kei, because I believe these tools can be sacred when used consciously.

But the gentle truth is that the danger is not using mirrors. It’s outsourcing your authority to them. External tools are like fun house mirrors. They reflect versions — possibilities — aspects of you that are already present. One card may reflect your fear. Another, your potential. A transit may reflect tension. A reading may reflect opportunity.

Without consulting your intuition first, your ego chooses the interpretation. And the ego, especially when unsettled, tends to choose the most dramatic distortion.

This isn’t about healing something broken. It’s about reorganizing what already exists. At some point in our lives, our human self decided it needed to protect us. It learned to anticipate outcomes. To overcompensate. To scan for what might go wrong. That instinct is intelligent — it keeps us safe. But when it leads without balance, it can prevent us from experiencing fulfillment, joy, even the sacred uncertainty that growth requires.

We are born with an extraordinary inner connection — a power that many of us were never taught to recognize. When I first began understanding my own divine self, I was honestly intimidated by it. The idea that something so vast lived within me felt uncharted.

And yet, as Anita Moorjani reminds us, “No matter how awful you feel at times, you are not broken.”

Repeating that truth became a stabilizing mantra for me. It softened the harsh edges of self-doubt. It helped me regulate negative thought patterns. It restored a sense of self-love that had been quietly waiting beneath the noise.

Meditation deepened this process. Sitting in stillness for even fifteen minutes a day has a profound effect on the ego — not by erasing it, but by centering it. A centered ego becomes a wise interpreter instead of a reactive one.

Similar to the circus mirrors, external guidance reflects options back to you. Without inner consultation, your ego selects the perspective through which you receive the advice.

With inner consultation, you choose consciously.

The mirror informs but it does not decide.

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For you.
- A quiet practice for when the noise feels loud -

Before consulting any external mirror — a chart, a reading, the news, advice from someone you love — pause.

• Place one hand on your body and take three slow breaths.
• Ask yourself: What do I already feel about this?
• Notice sensations before thoughts.
• Name the emotion gently.
• Only then, consult the external source.
• Observe whether it confirms or contradicts your inner knowing.
• If there is tension, return to your body before making any decision.

Let the mirror inform.
Let your intuition decide.

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Perhaps mirrors will always exist. Advice will circulate. Predictions will be made. Stories will be shared.

But tonight, in the quiet of your own body — what feels true?

With Love,
Kei