If Only These Glasses Could Make You See
Twenty Twenty
I see the world a little differently than others. We all have a unique view of the world and my view is no exception
Without corrective lenses, I’m considered legally blind. When I have my eyes tested, they don’t show me letters anymore because I can’t see any of them, even the largest. Instead they show me two large colored blocks. The doctor then will switch out lenses, asking, “Is it better with number one or number two?” I can tell there’s an improvement when the two colors stop blending together. After my vision is improved enough to see two distinct blocks of color, we move onto the letters.
My eyes progressively get worse, meaning that I need a new prescription every six months to a year. In my early twenties they say corrective lenses will no longer be able to improve my vision and I’ll need to get corrective surgery. Even then they say I may still need to wear contacts or glasses.
It sounds bad, but I’m really very lucky. A teacher of mine began going blind in the same way that I have, but his vision is beyond improvement. With glasses he sees the world the way I see it without my contacts.
It’s kind of strange and amazing to be able to go from blindness to 20-20 vision within seconds. All I have to do is pop in some contacts and my vision is “normal.”
Before my vision was corrected I didn’t know it was even possible to see individual leaves on trees from a distance. My world is dominated by colors. I see colors but few shapes. Although I prefer seeing clearly, I have to say that seeing the world with my naked eyes is quite extraordinary.
t i t l e: Little Secrets
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I’ve been thinking a lot about consciousness lately. I mean we know that thoughts and emotions themselves come from neurochemical reactions, but what makes us aware? What makes us alive? Some people would say a soul.
I believe we (and animals) have souls. I don’t know exactly what properties the soul has, but I’m sure it has something to do with consciousness. I believe the soul is almost like our residue; even when we don’t exist in our visible universe, there’s still something left. Where do all our thought’s go? After we think something what happens to that information? Physically we know it’s either stored or discarded, but I think there’s more to it than that. I believe all our thoughts make a mark on some unknown part of the universe. I think our souls are the cumulation of everything we are, everything we were, and everything we could be.
I believe the soul/ consciousness is physical, but it doesn’t exist in the same sense of the word with which we’re familiar . I think the soul and consciousness can be described in terms of scientific physics, but I’m not sure if humans will ever be equipped to comprehend it. I believe it exists in a different world which some may call the spiritual world.
I believe we are part of a dual existence. We exist primarily in the world we can see, but there is part of us that transcends this reality. We can’t fully understand it in our current forms because we only partially exist in the world of thought, souls, and consciousness. Trying to comprehend that world would be like trying to imagine a new color or trying to understand the concept of sound if you’re deaf. We know that there could be colors that we can’t see, and a deaf person knows that something exists that’s called sound, but in both cases our minds are incapable of truly grasping those concepts.
When our anchor to this world is broken, maybe we can fully exist in the world of consciousness, or maybe our current position will switch: we’ll primarily exist in that world and partially exist in this world. This is consistent with most religions and with so-called "mystical" or "spiritual" experiences. I don’t believe in using religion as a substitute for science, but it’s definitely intriguing to think about the science that could form the foundation of religion.
I believe that all consciousness, all life with awareness including animals, is connected. I know this is true, and we shouldn’t forget the significance of that.
