I can see without my glasses, so I’m not a hazard when I drive my car (or bike!), but I miss some of the details, far and near. Yes, I have progressive lenses, meaning I need help seeing clearly just about everything. Here are two examples:

1) I have my daily crossword puzzle challenge:  wracking my brain for 36 across — a five-letter word for a S A aardvark, only to realize that this was the clue for 38, an 8-letter word and that, of course, is a “tamandua” (no-brainer!).

2) I also realize that I have a “recognizing people’s faces” challenge: I see a person across the parking lot or down the aisle in a store and can’t understand why they are waving to me. When I get closer, I realize “I know that person” and quickly apologize for seeming to be unfriendly.

Anyway, my vision problems got me thinking…We get to see a lot in our day-to-day lives. How clearly do we see?  Even when we see, we might not see everything, no matter how close someone or something may be.  There is “seeing” and there is “seeing.”  It’s notable that a synonym  for understanding is “insight.” Insightful seeing is not superficial looking, but perceptive observing. Perceptive observation brings us to a new level of involvement, which shows another level of concern and gives us a more useful level of detail for a given situation.  Sometimes we do just look and don’t really see.   

I do look forward to seeing better when I get my new glasses — it is still up to me, though, how insightful my seeing will be.  “I” is for insight…