Rose Colored Glasses

I recently purchased a pair of rose colored glasses. In truth, I don’t really know what color the tint of the glasses is, I just know that these new sunglasses of mine make the whole world look AMAZING!!!  (Ask anyone who I have forced to try on my glasses and look around.  LOL)

So let me back up. I recently had my annual eye exam and decided to purchase a pair of prescription sunglasses so that I wouldn’t have to worry about wearing contact lenses at the pool or beach in the summertime or when we travel. My primary purpose for the purchase was to use at the beach and pool, but I was kind of sad that I wasn’t using the glasses, so I decided to start wearing them for driving.

I was not prepared for what I experienced the first time that I wore these new magic glasses. It was the peak of cherry blossom season in Northern Virginia, which as I’ve established several posts back, I’m obsessed with this time of year. When I stepped out of my front door onto the porch, sporting my new sunglasses, I was nearly knocked off my feet at the colors of everything around me. These new glasses of mine even make brown look amazing!!!!

Have you ever seen video of a little kid…a really little kid getting glasses for the first time? Their reaction is always of such amazement and joy. They look around their little world and just smile at everything and everyone! Well, that’s what I found myself doing with my new glasses. I would even try pulling them down off my eyes to remind myself what the world really looked like. I was so hopeful that the difference would not be dramatic, but it was. I found myself preferring the world that I saw through my glasses to the real world. I began wishing that everyone could see what I see out of these magic lenses. I began dreaming of what the world would be like if we all did look through these glasses. And what it would be like if we could look at each other with equal assistance and filter.

I wondered, is it a bad thing that I prefer this enhanced world view? Is it bad that I would prefer to live looking through a filter than enjoying reality? Many would argue that living in any form outside of reality would be a bad idea; a mistake that could have dangerous repercussions. But then I thought, maybe it depends on the filter we use.

If what we see filtered invokes thoughts of beauty and amazement in the simple, could that be bad? I think that we do this naturally, even without the aid of glasses. Don’t we see the ones that we love in the most beautiful light; maybe somewhat blind to reality?

And don’t you think we might already be looking at the world through a filter? A filter of someone else’s design and not of our conscious choosing. Our culture has a way of telling us what to think and how to see things. Just look at any commercial on tv. Are they not LOADED with innuendos of how we should think? Blonde is better. Taller is better. This brand of clothes makes you better. This car makes you better. It’s all a filter put in front of us to keep us from seeing the truth.

The truth is the world is a beautiful place. It is filled with beautiful people of variety, and creativity, and heart. I wish I could shield everyone from the negativity that we are assaulted with everyday, but I struggle with it myself.

But I can tell you one thing. I’m going to continue to wear my rose colored glasses. I’m going to soak in as much as that filtered world can give me and I’m going to work hard to look at others through these magic lenses.