Saturday, July 12, 2008

The eyes have it

July 12, 2008 - If someone has a lazy eye, in conversations it is as though one eye is looking at you and the other is looking for you. The same conversation with someone in mirrored sunglasses is equally distracting, as you spend more time watching yourself talk that you aren't actually hearing the other side. So what of those with heterochromia? Do you spend the conversation deciding which eye suits you better? Which eye suits that person better? I knew a man who had one blue eye and one brown. I decided early on in our friendship that I would only concentrate on the eye that suited my mood better that day. I spent a lot of time looking at the blue one. It seemed happier than the brown eye.

Of course, if the eyes are indeed the windows in to the soul, and you have two different eyes - is that two windows or two souls? Can you have two slightly different personalities to match? How many people honestly make eye contact enough to notice anyhow? We seem to walk around looking only at the ground ahead of us. Making eye contact has almost become taboo. I made eye contact today with the girl at the wine store after a good recommendation. She seems uncomfortable with the thank you. She watched, and then made a comment when I pulled the twenty out of my shirt... that made me more uncomfortable. I avoided eye contact with the by-law officer today as he wrote up a warning on the off-leash dogs - as though not making eye contact would make my dog and me invisible.

Is that feeling of being invisible, or rather the need to blend in to the background what has us looking at our feet? I have never been accused of blending in to the background, and I have rarely sought out invisibility. Still there are times when you just want to think like a dog - if I can't see you, then you can't see me - and not make eye contact with the world around us. Today is Different Coloured Eyes Day. And it not only celebrates those who have heterochromia, but also the differences in each of us. There are blue eyes and brown eyes, green eyes and grey, hazel eyes and black eyes (and it seems any combination of the above). For me, my eyes are sometimes green, sometimes blue, and sometimes they are grey. I don't know if it mood or lighting, but my passport says one thing, my drivers license says another.
Maybe that speaks more to the people on the other side of the counter. Maybe they were not looking me in the eye either.

Your task for today, should you choose to celebrate, is to look people in the eye, and for just a moment, concentrate on their colour. You won't be invisible, and you just might make someone's day.

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