I have a habit of looking in the mirror when I'm talking on the phone. Not the entire time I'm talking on the phone, but at least part of it. There's something comforting in seeing a human face, blinking, smiling, meeting my eyes, when all I have is a voice in my ear.

But I've discovered that when I pray, and I've been praying a lot lately, it's uncomfortable to watch my own face, to meet my own eyes. Perhaps that's partly due to the fact that I'm usually praying at odd moments---in the car, as I'm falling asleep, whilst I'm fixing dinner---and I'm simply not used to gazing in a mirror. Or maybe it's because my prayers are often raw things, earnest and urgent and sometimes painful, and it's hard to look at myself when any and all of my mirror-watching veneers are stripped away.

But I think the main reason is that praying is a sacred conversation. Even if I'm in my car or lying in bed or standing at the stove, I've entered into a holy space, and it seems impolite?...inappropriate?...intrusive?...to watch someone when they've essentially stepped into the sublime, even if that someone is myself.