BlurredLens

My glasses prescription is moderate. Proud Corrective Lenses Enthusiasts scoff at the meagerness of my "impairment", yet 20/20 Vision Purists never invite me to sit at their table in the cafeteria. So I live in a kind of corneal purgatory, with my mild-yet-necessary smudged glasses.

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I have noticed a pattern in my life: Fantasizing about a problem-free life never solves the discontent I feel over the challenges I dream of escaping. While I wish every day was absent of annoyances, pain, or confusion, such black/white "clarity" doesn't exist. Instead I live in a "blurry" world filled with the "in-between", the ambiguity; I have what I need to enjoy life, but not enough to be immune to its hardships. The fantasy exists only in my dreams.

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If I dared to live a life without my smudged and glasses, I could. Though, I would be exchanging sight for ignorance. Flecks of dust and fallen eyelashes would be gone from my view, but so would any semblance of definition of the world in front of me. But if I embrace the inherent nature of my lenses - in all their blurry glory - then I learn to appreciate what I can see. Who knows, I may discover beauty in appreciating life for what it is, rather than wishing for something it is not. (But I'm only a theorist, not an experienced veteran.)

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I hope BlurredLens becomes a place where my stories express this trying, edifying reality: Imperfection can invite beauty. Tragedy can beget significance. Pain can cultivate intimacy. Anxiety can beckon perspective.

If we let it.