Friday, March 20, 2015

Celebrate the Small Things: Behind the Lens

Dog reads book Stock ImagesWhat did you celebrate this week?

How about good eyesight? I wear reading glasses with a little correction in the mid and top range of my glasses (we call them progressives), but to be honest, if I were to lose them in the wilderness and get lost, I could probably read a map in the daylight and possibly find my way home (barring also being somewhat directionally impaired). Has anyone actually experienced this?

 But my main point here is I try not to take vision for granted. At my last exam I had the beginning of a cataract in one eye, and my husband has worn glasses most of his life. He has dealt with more eye issues than I likely will ever have.

And here's another thought. What we see behind the lens of an eye is not all we see in life. We also see with our hearts, our minds and our souls, but the vision gets foggy sometimes and out of whack. When I get too busy and attempt to do more than I should to maintain a healthy balance physically, mentally and spiritually, that sometimes happens to me, and I forget the beauty of the moment. I have to slow down . . . and you should too if that happens to you.

Some food for thought by the famous:


"Eyes for Invisibles"

"I have walked with people whose eyes are full
of light but who see nothing in sea or sky,
nothing in city streets, nothing in books. It
were far better to sail forever in the night of
blindness with sense, and feeling, and mind,
than to be content with the mere act of seeing.
The only lightless dark is the night of darkness 
in ignorance an insensibility."   --Helen Keller


 "The man who cannot wonder is but a pair of
spectacles behind which there is no eye"  --Thomas Carlyle


"Auguries of Innocence"

 "To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, 
And Eternity in an hour."  --William Blake 
 
Happy Weekend Everyone! 


Thank you Lexa Cain for hosting one of the 
best Blog Hops ever; And co-hosts:
 L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge  
and Katie @ TheCyborgMom




24 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post. Makes one think. Enjoy the weekend.

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    1. And the best to you, too! Looking forward to trying some golf this weekend.

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  2. Love those quotes. And love your post, so true!! Have a good weekend.

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    1. Glad you liked. Kind of tired this week....it's good to tap into other brains for a reminder when that happens.

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  3. I loved this inspiring post. We should all remember to slow down sometimes.

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  4. It's hard though when you have a hundred things piling up back to back, with little rest in between. I can juggle, a master at times, but sometimes it feels crazy. So I take a breath, and try to remember posts like this and the small things in life that are still meaningful and worth stopping for.

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  5. Ah, great inSIGHT. < < SEE what I did there. :P

    And, yep, I wear progressives too. But what an excellent point about there being more than one way of seeing the world around us.

    And nice to meet you. :)

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    1. And...good to meet you too! Aren't progressives wonderful?

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    1. Thanks! Glad you stopped by, Rajiv. Nice to meet you :)

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  7. Oh Sharon, I love the shared quotes! And by all means, always take a map. I'd miss you (smile).

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    1. Ha-ha. My husband and I have an ongoing argument. We don't take maps in the car anymore. Just use our Smart phones or car GPS, he says. But there's the problem. The batteries could go and that car could be off the trail....I'm such a whiner.

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  8. I rarely connect with poetry, but these quotes and poems were wonderful. Blake's was so beautiful, it actually made me go "Awww..." I'm like your husband. I've been wearing glasses all my life and am so nearsighted that if I were lost in the wilderness without them, I'd probably walk right off a cliff. Thanks so much for this lovely post about something we too often take for granted - our sight.

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    1. Oh, I'm glad you like Blake too. He's probably the first poet I was ever introduced to. But best keep a backup when you're hiking. We don't want you walking off a cliff, Lexa!

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  9. such a lovely message! I also wear glasses all the time and see everything foggy all the time. When I go out I usually carry another set of glasses in my bag lest I should break the one on me :)

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    1. Oh, dear. You and I my husband best not go hiking together. And did you know he's also a pilot? That extra set of glasses is mandatory!

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  10. I have terrible eyesight, and am at greater risk for problems because of my diabetes, so I agree, good vision is definitely something worth celebrating!

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  11. Oh ....Do take care of those eyes, Heather. We would miss all those cool comic characters you draw :) Computers are hard on everyone's eyes. We all need to take eye breaks and do what we can to protect our vision.

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  12. Wonderful post! What we see with our hearts is just as important as what we see with our eyes. I've worn glasses/contacts since high school, and I'm always thankful my eyesight has not deteriorated further. Love the quotes. "Auguries of Innocence" is one of my favorites.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Lori. I'm glad your eyes are in good shape with correction. We all seem to need glasses eventually. Eye care today is leaps and bounds ahead of what our ancestors dealt with!

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  13. I don't take my eyesight for granted. I know how important it is! (I too, need vision correction. I'm blind as a bat without it!)

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  14. Hi Sherry. Nice to see you here. So glad for those glasses....can't have you being blind as a bat :)

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You could call me an eternal optimist, but I'm really just a dreamer. l believe in dream fulfillment, because 'sometimes' dreams come true. This is a blog about my journey as a writer and things that inspire and motivate me.