Community as Mirror of Self

A cousin of mine wrote this and I thought it was particularly perceptive.

I think I wrote in one of my previous letters that living in community can be like living with a mirror that shows you your true self in all your beauty and ugliness. It can be really hard, but at the same time very helpful if you’re willing to accept yourself as you are and as you must change. I think I also wrote that it’s the members of this community that function as this “mirror of true-self”.

This is probably how human beings are supposed to live - together. You can really only see yourself if you're looking at another person. I think that's some deep truth.