Why I built Mirror Dear

I’ve always wanted to reflect regularly: to understand my life and habits, and to keep growing in the ways I care about. But I struggled to make it a habit. Sitting down to introspect is hard when you don’t know where to start. I needed a starting point, and a few good questions to get my mind moving.

So I built myself one. It began as a set of iPhone shortcuts that asked me questions every day, at different times, for different kinds of reflection. My answers went into my notes app, dated and always in the same structure. Without meaning to, I’d built a library of my own inner life that I could look back on.

Those structured prompts helped me go deeper. They opened my mind and my heart, and helped me understand myself and change in the ways I wanted to.

I wanted to share that with others: first with the spiritual community I’m part of, and then with anyone, anywhere, who wants to know themselves better. Mirror Dear grew from there, with a community to reflect alongside, and in-person, candlelit evenings where people journal together.

I read Autobiography of a Yogi when I was 16, and it set me on a path of meditation and reflection that I’ve followed ever since. I also run a software business. Mirror Dear is where those two parts of my life meet.

I hope it helps you pause, look inward, and find a little more clarity.

Vatsal Kanoria, founder