Do you ever cringe when you see yourself on camera?

Blame your brain.

Hey everyone,

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I recently made a slightly significant change to my appearance; I shaved off my beard that I’ve had for almost 7 years. 

It was certainly an adjustment, but because of it, I want this post to serve as a Public Service Announcement:

“It’s okay to be uncomfortable when you see yourself on camera” 

There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s your brain’s fault.

What your brain sees

When you shoot a video and then watch it back, you are seeing what everyone else sees when we look at you. But from your perspective, you have only ever seen your mirror image, because it’s impossible to see yourself without a mirror. Even though a mirror isn’t representing 100% reality, our brains consider it the definitive version of “you”.

Or as the Times of India put it “Why do we look attractive in the mirror but ugly in photos?”

...the reflection you see every day in the mirror is the one you perceive to be original and hence a better-looking version of yourself. …when you look at a photo of yourself, your face seems to be the wrong way as it is reversed than how you are used to seeing it.

This is exactly the reason you may feel you are the least photogenic person in a group, as everybody else’s face is the way you see them every day, except yours.

Testing this theory

Don’t believe me? The next time you wear a shirt with words on it, think about how the words are backwards in the mirror. Then ask, “what else is backwards?”

I picked a shirt with the biggest words for this photo

If you’re like me and you comb your hair to the left, it moves to the right from everyone else’s perspective.

And then there’s your voice!

There’s nothing wrong with it. That’s also your brain’s fault, with some assistance from the bones in your face.

As BBC Earth Lab explains, sound waves travel from your mouth to your ears two ways. One is through the air, which is what we hear. The other is through the bones in your head, only “they spread out and lower in pitch, giving you a false sense of bass”.

Want to know what your voice sounds like to the rest of us?

Put a folder or a magazine between your mouth and ears, and start talking. Sure, it may feel silly, but this blocks the vibrations in your skull from your mouth to your ears, removing that tiny bit of bass you normally hear.

So just remember the next time you shoot a video and you feel the need to say or thing, “I don’t like the way I sound” or “I don’t like the way I look”, just remind yourself that your brain is getting confused by what it’s seeing and hearing.

It has nothing to do with your actual appearance because we like you…just the way you are.

I’m always looking for excuses to use Mr. Rogers GIFs.

*End of public service announcement*

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