New eyes

Have you ever wanted to be able to see the world through "new eyes"? Discard the old and somewhat distorted way of seeing to discover a new, and hopefully better way? Casting off the smog and darkness of depression can truly offer a completely different view. The world is still the same - but the manner and viewpoint from which it is seen vastly changes, for the better! A wonderful surprise for me has been an actual enhancement of light and color in my surroundings!! Whoda thunk the world has beauty in it - and isn't just shades of grey and black?

I have had the wonderful experience and blessing of emerging from the shadows of depression - walking and seeing the world around me bathed in light! Not to say the shadows have completely disappeared... they will probably always be there, just over my shoulder... waiting for the chance to pounce and once again overwhelm. That is my burden to be aware of and to constantly guard against. I do this through things like...

• prayer, and embracing God's loving influence
• friendships (both near and far)
• remembering lessons learned in life
• utilizing tools and methods given through counseling, and reading
• and yes... for me there is also medication (among too many other things to list right now)

Did you know that everyone has three eyes? (and here you thought you only had just two... silly you!!). We all have physical, mental, and spiritual eyes from which we view ourselves and the world around. Depression for me seriously impacts that whole mental point of view... and can have a huge influence on the other two eyes as well (physical and spiritual). Each requires attention, to be done without neglecting the other two! It is a delicate balancing act... which brings to my weird mind a vision of someone juggling three eye"balls" in the air at once.

Announcement Time:

As of tomorrow I shall be seeing the world through new physical eyes! Yes, I am going under the knife urrr... make that laser...  and scary as it sounds... am having Lasik surgery! A ban on computers and reading is required for 24 to 48 hours afterwards - but I'll try to post something this weekend about the experience! Personally I think eyeballs are gross (but very necessary, and truly amazing).

So until I next enter the computer blogasphere in a few days... I bid thee all adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow (and hopefully worth it in the end!!).

Eye-lights

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
beach & partial view of roller coaster

Summertime! Summertime when in my mid 20’s and living in California, always meant trips to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Not a ton of rides like some other amusement parks, but seriously probably the best wooden roller coaster ever!!  And of course there is the whole boardwalk atmosphere, with a great beach on which to flop down to enjoy the waves and sunshine!

Inevitably my friends and I would stop at a carnival type booth where you paid a couple of dollars to have the guy guess either your weight, or your age (within 10-lbs or 5-years). Ain’t nobody gonna get me to step on a scale in public to verify my weight... ‘nuff said! So I would consistently opt for the age guess. I always, always, won that contest - and received many a cheap prize at the boardwalk as a result.

People have never really been able to accurately guess my age... which can be a blessing, and a curse. A blessing because, what woman wouldn’t want to look younger than they really are, and seem to age somewhat gracefully? A curse because sometimes people just don’t take you seriously when they probably should... thinking you are a young flibbertigibbet or something. It’s not as bad now as it used to be, because now at least people think I am a more mature sensible mid to late 30’s (yeah, you might want to tack 10-years onto that number!).

There is one more thing about me that other people just cannot seem to correctly interpret either. That would be my eyes. Yes, I said my eyes... they don’t really tell the whole truth. My counselor told me, last year when I started seeing her for clinical depression therapy... that people would not believe me if I told them I have severe depression (heck, they wouldn't believe mild depression either). She said there is a certain light in my eyes which belies what is beneath. Leading others to think all is well with me, and most certainly never clinical depression.

The lesson here is... don’t base opinions on what you see on the surface! That is most likely not the true or whole story for a good number of people! Especially for one such as me, who have become skilled in hiding behind masks... even while leaving my eyes always in full view.