Eyes Wide Shut

The purpose of your eyelids is to shield and protect your eyes but, whether open or closed, you're only going to 'see' what you want to.  They can be wide open, looking at something, and you 'turn a blind eye' to it, not acknowledging or accepting it, and not reacting.  Conversely, you can have your eyes closed and still see everything, maybe relying on your other senses or beliefs or your imagination gets the best of you.  When I was a child and I was scared, I would close my eyes, thinking that if I didn't see it, the boogeyman wouldn't be able to get me.  Same with looking in the closet or under the bed... I knew they were there, but if I didn't see the monsters with my own two eyes, I was safe.  Obviously, that is a fallacy.  Even in pitch black with your eyes opened wide, you are still seeing something, even if you're not aware of it.  Eigengrau is the shade of black seen by the human eye in complete darkness.  It is also called Eigenlicht, meaning 'intrinsic light';  that which is natural or inherit, rather than learned.

Your brain is at work all day long, not only receiving from your eyes, but from other senses.  It only takes 13 milliseconds for your brain to process an image and then it is on to the next image, constantly calibrating itself, figuring out what to look at next. Because it all happens so rapidly, the eye-to-brain connection sends these 'concepts'.  The eye has to see something and the brain has to figure out what it is to be able to look at the next thing to be able to put the concept together, and make sense of it, to be able to react. This happens three times a second.  It's a wonder it can correctly interpret what it's seeing, but it does, somehow.  Mind over matter... it's a very powerful thing.

There are many things that help or block your vision.  Obviously, glasses can magnify the clarity in the objects you see, while beer goggles... well, we all know how that turns out.  X-rays, fog, telescopes, as well as other things, all cloud or help how we see things, but the most distorting are those that interfere most with what we think.  Quick judgements... not letting the brain truly process fully, coming to a quick decision... stubborn beliefs... religious traditions that don't let us see the present or future, only the past... racism... only seeing what's on the surface... and the things we block out, mostly about ourselves, that don't allow us to see ourselves as we truly are because we don't want to take the time to change them or we don't want to take responsibility and face the things that are bad.  In contrast, maybe we see ourselves in a bad light and not how others see us at all or what's not true, but in our own head.  Our own self-impression, as if the eyes could see inward, are just as destructive as the things we don't want to come to terms with.  Nothing can harm us as easily as we can ourselves.  Sometimes, we are our own boogeyman.

There's something to be said for the candid picture... catching you off-guard so you can see the real you.  Today's selfie is just a façade.  In the natural, intrinsic light... maybe it's time to take a good, long look.