Anybody out there with 20/20 vision? Definitely not me! I got my first pair of prescription glasses at the ripe old age of four. Here’s my preschool picture, complete with side bangs and giant glasses:
I’ve needed vision correction for so long that I don’t have any memories of life without glasses or contacts. My lenses are thick, and my nearsightedness is so acute that I can only see about five inches in front of my face without glasses on. I joke with my kids that if I lived in the Middle Ages, I’d be a blind old beggar woman. My need for glasses is a serious thing.
Without glasses, my vision is blurry. I can’t make out much of the world around me. But with glasses, I can read, I can drive, and I can function. Why? Because glasses help me focus.
Do you know how glasses work? “Glasses work by focusing light rays that you are not able to focus properly on your own. Normally, your eyes are able to collect light through your pupils and bend them correctly onto the retina at the back of your eye. When light rays are focused properly like this you have clear, sharp vision.” (thanks to this great website for the info!)
A Gradual Journal has a similar effect. Writing refines my focus on the things that really matter in my life. Over time, journaling about the small (and large) happenings of ordinary days helps me to see my life through a different lens. I see what I prioritize, what I waste time on, what I wish I had more time for, and what’s being neglected. Just like a pair of glasses focuses rays of light so my eyes can process them, my journal focuses the different facets of my life so my soul can process them. A little bit of writing, repeated every day, makes a world of difference.
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