A new pair of glasses

After my cataract surgery more than a decade ago, I still needed glasses for reading. Over the years I accumulated a great collection of eyeware in every color. Some had patterns or designs and some had seasonal themes. They spruced up my wardrobe and my spirits. It was hard for me to go back to regular all-the-time bifocals, but I have come to realize that everyone's eyesight needs some type of correction. Each of us, even the most sainted among us, needs to view some part of humanity differently because the way we currently look at it is skewed. Most likely we developed that outlook during our upbringing or as a result of some trauma. We retain it because we have never thought about it, had it challenged or because to change our perspective seems threatening and scary.

But, even with correction, our vision about certain things will never be 20/20. I don't think one culture can truly see the intricate layers of another culture's view of the world and how it has seeped into the dna of its peoples. Perhaps the best we can ever have is a better appreciation of another's outlook. In the initial draft of this musing I have a long paragraph on wanting our governor to trade his pair of glasses with a refugee who was once a respected leader in his village, or having the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop of Canterbury switch spectacles, well you get the idea. My proposal was to force people to have a different perspective for a short period of time, and then figure they would emerge from that exercise a better version of themselves. Perhaps that's clever and a fun use of a few minutes conversation, but ultimately a futile hope.

To improve the vision of the future, I need to start with me. I need to acknowledge the blindspots on my own glasses, accepting that blindspots usually focus on an area where we are not self aware. Ugh. Facing such a truth on a Monday morning is daunting, but when I read the headlines and see what is happening around the globe, I know that change starts we me somehow finding a new pair of glasses to wear. If you are also ready to improve your vision, then the prospect doesn't seem so challenging or the dream so blurry.

Marilyn