How Do You See the World?

For seven long years, I wandered around the face of the planet blindly.

Not quite literally... but close.

You see, I've worn glasses ever since the sixth grade.

Shortly after I got my first pair, a classmate sitting in front of me turned around to check the clock on the wall.

Feeling embarrassed and self conscious, I instinctively ripped them off my face.

Then one day, in my late twenties, when I didn't have a backup pair...

My glasses were destroyed.

For two years, I didn't replace them or even get an eye exam.

I was petrified it would happen again.

So I did what any nearly legally-blind person would do:

I went without.

After two whole years of squinting and straining, I finally dragged myself to the doctor, got an eye exam, and ordered glasses.

I was hopeful, but also trepidatious. After all...

What if the same thing happened again?

And sure enough...

It did.

In fact, it happened in almost the exact same way.

My brand-new glasses were completely shattered within days.

But this time...

Instead of two years, it took me five years to bounce back.

And because they fit not only my face perfectly, but also my personality...

Not a day went by in which I didn't think about them.

So when I learned Silhouette Group stopped producing the Havana Burgundy color in the interim, I was distraught.

For simply nothing else would suffice; I'd become 100% attached to them.

I nearly gave up looking.

But with a mixture of luck and fate, I was delighted to find a new pair online in my exact size and color.

Clearly it was meant to be.

When the frames arrived a few days later, I started wearing them without lenses.

Yet even without a prescription, when I wore the frames...

I felt at peace.

Once I got the prescription filled, I figured it would be a quick adjustment.

But let me assure you...

If your vision is as bad as mine and you haven't worn glasses for the past 7 years...

Don't expect to see crystal clear when you put them on.

Take my word for it: the combination of dizziness, nausea, and a headache simultaneously isn't a good combination.

Not to mention...

It was far from crystal clear.

In some ways, it's no different than life transitions.

They can sometimes happen quickly and painlessly, to be sure.

For me, the transition from no glasses to wearing frames was instantaneous.

Yet my switch from non-prescription lenses to prescription lenses was more gradual and uncomfortable.

Here's what I know:

Every time I put them on my face...

I can't help but smile.

Even if it is a little fuzzy.