A New C̶r̶i̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ Lens

2 weeks ago, I got contact lenses. After almost a decade of glasses, it was finally time for me to see the world from a different perspective… ok fine, let’s be honest: getting contacts isn’t that big of a deal. But for me, a simple accessory has defined much of my self-perception and played a larger role in my life than I realized. 

For years, I avoided the idea of contacts. My parents urged me to consider it, friends encouraged me to stop being four-eyed, but something always held me back. I complained about the “super complicated” maintenance required for contacts, the extra costs, but what was truly worrying me, was my lack of self-acceptance. After spending years in glasses, I didn’t realize that I had been hiding behind them. Aside from physical insecurities and social concerns, I feared change. With so many drastic changes coming up, I guess it felt nice to have some constants in my life. 

But upon getting contacts, I discovered that the change I was trying to avoid, was actually the change I needed. One step out of my comfort zone opened up a world of risks that I was more willing to take. For example, if I was willing to get rid of glasses, then maybe I would try wearing something new (other than hoodies/sweatpants 😱😬)? Through this change, I began to live my life more in accordance with what I wanted, instead of what I’m used to.

And just when I (and probably you) thought I already had overanalyzed getting contacts enough, I read an eye-opening blog. To summarize, the blogger, Sydney Olivia, did a social experiment by wearing fake glasses at her college for a week, which led her to greater realizations about society and how we see each other. Reactions from her peers were mainly positive but overall neutral. In general, people seemed to support any stylistic choice that Sydney made, as it didn’t really affect them much. But this interested Sydney, as she felt like if she had done this in high school, she would’ve been judged or made fun of. The glasses of her experiment became a symbol for something greater, for the lenses that we view each other from. The most profound sentence in the entire blog for me was:

“We all wear glasses we don’t need.”

Olivia went into detail to explain how her own experiences in high school compared to college showed the difference in judgment once perspective is changed; she points out that “suddenly what was weird in high school is acceptable, smart, and “cool” in college.” She found that as we see more cultures and experience diversity, we’re more likely to be more understanding of others. 

But it’s important to note that by changing settings or moving to a more diverse place, people don’t automatically become kind, sympathetic, and compassionate. Olivia claims that this is a choice that we all have to make, a choice to be a more welcoming person. Just as we can choose to judge others or fear judgment, we can also make the choice to appreciate others and ourselves. 

This blog isn’t really about getting contacts, nor does it have anything to do with convincing people to get contacts. You can wear whatever eyewear you want (or none at all), but take the idea more symbolically, as a reminder to always have clear lenses and an open mind to look at the world from.