A few weeks ago I went to the eye doctor for my annual exam. I discovered, once again, that my vision has gotten worse. In particular, my left eye has deteriorated–I was shocked how much. As I’ve waited for my new glasses to arrive, I’ve been acutely aware of the fact that I really don’t see as well as I used to.
As I stared at my screen one day, squinting and trying to see a bit better, I considered the fact that we don’t always see what is right before our eyes. I remember a baby sitter I had who used to love to remind me of this when I would lose something. I’d be hunting all over the house for a toy or a shoe, and she would find it sitting in plain sight. Then she would say, “It was right in front of your nose.”
I can’t tell you how often I search for something in my office or on my desk, both of which are littered with piles of papers, unable to find something. I get so frustrated. After searching for an hour, I might look just one more time only to discover whatever I was trying to find literally “right in front of my nose”–there on my desk in plain view. For some reason, I just couldn’t see it.
This past week I spoke with a potential client. She told me she has contact with the angelic realms. Another one of my clients is a medium; she sees and hears the dead. I know we can call on the angels for help. In Judaism we have a lovely prayer that calls on the arch angels to be with us and help us. I also know that we have angles who protect and guide us on a regular basis. We also have spirit guides and other types of guides from these other unseen realms, some of whom are those people who have passed on to the to other side. Yet, some people can, in fact see these realms and these angels, spirits and guide
s. The rest of us cannot. But they are there–right in front of our noses, or maybe they are just at our shoulder or waiting to take our hand.I’m not sure; I don’t see them. Sometimes I think I sense them. I’ve heard them once or twice. I’d like to see them…
Today, I was reminded again that we don’t always see what is right before our eyes and that another realm does exist that we don’t perceive. I was walking in the Christmas tree farm in the mountains where I live. I decided to take a picture of the Monterey Bay. It was a bit hazy, as always. The Bay tends to be fogged in much of the time. My iPhone camera was having a hard time focusing in on the bay because it was so far away, so I took a few photos. The first one simply showed the white haze (above). That’s pretty much what I could see but with a bit more detail along the coastline.
Then I took a second photo. The only difference was that I didn’t have the camera lense zoomed in the same manner. Low and behold, the camera captured something even I could not see–the Monterey Peninsula. (You can see the thin grey sliver along the horizon and the shimmering water between it and the mountains.) My husband also could not see the land across the Bay. We were both surprised that the camera could see something undetectable to the human eye.
As we walked, we looked at the bay several times and even took more photos. We never again saw Monterey. We squinted. We stared. Nothing. It had appeared on my camera like a specter, a spirit.
What else do we not see each day? How blindly do we go through life? Do we need to perfect our vision or just become more conscious? Do we need to learn to perceive things in a different way, open ourselves more to what is around us, before us…in front of our noses. Maybe we simply need to be more conscious of the fact that we just don’t see that well and that we might actually be missing something–something important. What do you think?
