Your Eyes Are Friends

One thing about taking Plaquenil is that it can cause changes to your retinas and damage your vision. Such changes are reversible if caught early enough. That means regular visits to the eye doctor. The only thing I hate worse than dilated eyes, is the headache I get from Novocaine when I go to the dentist. It just makes me feel weird and not myself.

I went for my annual visit yesterday and while we were testing my vision, I noticed that I could see the lines better with both eyes than with only one. I asked why and then answered my own question. Our eyes are friends! They work together. Okay, mine only work together when I’m wearing my glasses. But, what a reminder that trying to do everything by oneself is a mugs game. We need other people to survive and flourish.

I’m not just talking about chronically ill people or people with other disabilities, but everyone. We cannot survive without our neighbors. Both our direct neighbors, and our neighbors all over our city or town. One way to begin to pull our country together might be to begin recognizing this in our own lives. Honoring our neighbors for taking care of us and honoring our own actions that benefit our neighbors. Even if that’s just obeying the laws.

By working together, our eyes see better than the sum of each eye alone. The same is true of our social and political lives. I’m gonna look for opportunities to practice this today.