I have worn glasses since the third grade. When I was finally prescribed glasses, I met the standards for being legally blind. So I appreciate seeing clearly.
Seeing for most of us is just what we do without thinking. Easy and effortless, no?
Every night my husband Gary and I have a nighttime routine. This routine is so familiar to us that we automatically go through the motions. We get on our pajamas, we brush our teeth, and we wash our faces. Both Gary and I have to take off our glasses to do this—and here’s the unfathomable mystery to me— Somehow, from the time I wash my face to the time I walk the 20 steps to lie down in bed, I have lost my glasses.
My glasses are nowhere to be seen. Now, this is a routine, yah? But this happens all the time. Here’s the mysterious part: I get up and look in several locations for these glasses without fail. I look next to the sink; I look in the makeup bag, I look by the shelf near the shower, I look next to my bed, I look and look again. I EVEN put on a spare pair of old glasses I have in reserve to find my glasses.
Finally, when I have exhausted my energy when all else fails, I ask Gary for help. And do you know what that man does? In less than a minute, he will walk up to me wearing MY glasses on his face.
“WHERE DID YOU FIND THEM?” I ask as I rip MY glasses off his face. Without fail, he walks over to one of the spots where I looked, and suddenly, I realize they were there in plain view, and I missed them. I didn’t see them.
What do you miss seeing that’s in plain view?
Why is that? Why can we miss seeing something that is right in front of us?
It’s because seeing isn’t about our eyes. It is about how our brain interprets, receives, and understands the electrical signals our eyes give us. We are always selecting what we want to see and evading what we don’t want to see.
The crucial question then is, What criteria do I use to decide what I will see and avoid seeing?
It is a startling truth that how you see and what you see determine how and who you will be.
John O’Donohue, Anam Cara
How do you want to see the world today? Don’t miss it.
Mary, I can “see” this scenario from long ago. Gary was sitting in his dad’s chair
relaxing. (home from college, I think.) Coming from the kitchen brought a smile from me and all those here at the time. He had placed ping pong balls over his eyes
and was sitting there as if that was as natural as can be. It brought much laughter.
Wonder what this has to do with you not being able to find your glasses?