whipgraft delusion – n. the phenomenon in which you catch your reflection in the mirror and get the sense that you’re peering into the eyes of a strange, as if you’re looking at a police sketch of your own face aged forward twenty years, which would imply the real you is out there somewhere, wandering the streets of your old neighborhood, still at large.
Twenty years? More like thirty.
I thought about this as I don’t really look at myself in the mirror often.I certainly see myself, putting in contacts, brushing teeth, shaving, but I don’t often look closely.
However, once in awhile I’ll look at myself and while I don’t always mentally feel or act my age, I don’t feel this old. However, if I look closely, I realize I look old. As old as my knees and back feel some days. Definitely some whipgraft delusion.
From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows