The face in the mirror carried you through every good moment you’ve ever had. Go easier on it.

You talk about your own face in a way you would never talk about a friend’s. That same face was present for every good hour you have had, every time you laughed properly, every moment you would want back. Habitual criticism of it has become so normal that it no longer registers as cruelty. It is still cruelty, and it is aimed at the one person who cannot leave.

Catch the automatic remark this week and do not finish it. Then treat the person in the mirror roughly the way you would treat someone who had carried you that far.