Through a Mirror Sprightly

As Sierra is faced with nap-time, she opens up her public persona. She comes alive, becoming an artist, a singer, a dancer; staging Sierra Vilhauer’s Follies: a performance in three acts.

Her stage: a twin-sized bed. Her audience: a twin set of mirrors.

This is how Sierra fights nap-time. She sings, and watches herself do it. She stands on her bed and watches herself dance. She reads out loud to her animals. She even pretends to sleep. And she does it all under the reflection of her own unbridled energy.

Located just a few feet away – directly across from her bed – the mirrors have become a top shelf distraction.

It’s frustrating. It’s also fascinating.

Though she doesn’t understand it, as Sierra mugs and puts off her nap she’s also looking through a new set of eyes. Our eyes. Seeing herself as the adults in her life do. Fearless. Acting goofy – ridiculous even – without being self conscious. Completely unaware of what people are thinking about, about why they would even care in the first place.

Naïve of her own innocence, she simply sings and fights sleep, never once understanding that she’s seeing that innocence as we do: as something absolutely beautiful.

This was lovingly handwritten on March 22nd, 2010