I remember the day I got my first set of glasses and I remember why.
I was 16, on holiday out of boarding school and had just discovered the joys of PC gaming. After many hours of effort, assiduously copying floppy after floppy disk and playing with the cryptic Windows Registry, I got Sim City running. It was a revolution in game playing, a simulator based on building townships into major cities. As a player, you were the fictional Mayor of an undeveloped piece of land, who got to choose where housing projects were erected and where, you had to learn about zoning, supplying utilities, energy, industry, public transportation and much more. I played the game all night, every night on a tiny CRT monitor in the dark. A few weeks of strained eyes later, I noticed the world start to blur slowly, a few months later, I got my first set of spectacles.
To be fair the ophthalmologist, a lovely lady, in her wisdom tried to persuade me not to. She denied me glasses on two visits, saying my vision was good enough, but on the third, I insisted, for I have never been able to tolerate not seeing clearly.
She finally gave me the prescription I requested, with that I went to the eye center. After trying on a few sets for style, I went for the final fitting. A young lady was there, as she checked my vision she said, “Once you get glasses, you will never take them off, you’ll where glasses for the rest of your life.”
I still remember the shock of it, in denial, I vowed to take the glasses off some day. I expressed such sentiment to her, to which she presented a devious and unbelieving smile.
Fast forward 20 years. Roughly 36 years old, my power essentially had not changed. Myopic, -0.75 on the right eye, -1.0 on the left. People say I shouldn’t complain, that it’s almost nothing. Yet I find it a horror.
I was sick and tired of the lenses, they really screwed up my vision when playing sport and especially when skiing. Try skiing through a whiteout and with foggy glasses. It feels like death on every turn…
So I tried Contacts.
Disaster.
They were the most invasive set of clear rubbery disks that I could imagine. Chinese torture. My eyes would water profusely, then go dry, then out came the bottle of lubricant, followed by much blinking, then rubbing, on repeat. Little disks of terror. My affair with Contacts lasted not more than two weeks.
Fast forward a couple more years. I thought of Lasik after reading “Code Name God” by Mani Baumik, the inventor of said technology. (Great book by the way). I got as far a finding the clinic that would do the surgery but after some final due diligence and reading some regret stories online, I decided the stay away from the laser-edged knife. I think I dodged a bullet that day.
Fast forward another 4 years. After reading another book on vision (I have several), I decided to take off my glasses for good.
The simple act has been profound.
One, I have found that I can live my life almost perfectly without them, though crystal clear clarity still eludes me.
I went with my kids to the cinema the other day, after the first few minutes I forgot I didn’t have me goggles on.
Second, sunlight now directly enters my eyes. Without the filter of glass which blocks out certain key frequencies, or so I am told.
When looking at vistas, when in nature, there are few clues if any, that I don’t have perfect vision.
Which leads to three…
It’s in unnatural conditions that the irritation of not seeing clearly is most intrusive.
In shopping malls, looking at adverts or signs of any kind, is where reading is required. The edges of buildings and other sharp lines are jarring. So are notice boards at the office (who reads them?). Anything just close enough to warrant attention but far enough to annoy you.
Four. When you take your a glasses off, you start to notice the amount of extra stress and tension you hold on your face. In your jaw, around the eyes, on the temples, and even in your shoulders. I’ve noticed my right eye twitches ever so slightly, like it has tiny spasms. This hidden tension, I am convinced is the cause of many problems. At least problems that I have been having.
Now I’ve finally noticed it.
Five. Taking off the glasses has in some ways allowed me to see clearer. Glasses have tiny scratches on them, smudges of oil, subtle reflections, aberrations, distortions and they restrict your vision within the frame enclosed.
All that disappears once you take the lenses off.
Six. I am now learning to avoid situations and behaviors that cause eye strain. I ignore signs, most of them are useless anyways, I don’t need to be told for the gazillionth time that smoking is not allowed here or that Starbucks is over there, and adverts are the definition of useless. Actually their worse.
I try to look into the distance more often. Distant items are less strenuous on the eyes that closer ones paradoxically.
Seven. It doesn’t affect reading books or articles at all. Something I love doing.
Eight. And most important of all, there is an art to relaxing vision. One must relax to see clearly.
So, perhaps finally I am fulfilling my vow to get rid of the glasses I so hastily put on.
As a result I am beginning to finally see clearly, though the experiment has only lasted a week and it’s a bit premature to feign victory.
And that’s,
Try extended periods of not wearing sunglasses whilst in direct sunlight. Amongst many other benefits, you won’t get sunburn.