Clarity

I found the perfect pair of glasses earlier tonight at the mall. Light weight, it was almost like air, (and umm, violet), and just sat comfortably  on my nose....not moving, not being a bother (not even while I shook my head from side to side, haha). I don't have to push it up the bridge of my nose everytime I sweat, everytime it gets hot. Everytime stress makes my sebaceous glands sweat/oil up a little more than usual.

(But you don't want to have to hear about that, of course. :-p)

It's hard to understand, but if you're myopic and astigmatic (short-sighted, with misshapen corneas, i mean), like myself, finding the perfect pair of glasses is like finding the perfect job, or the perfect boyfriend...hoped for, but never quite achieved. An especially helpful optometrist and a relaxed environment to pick out the perfect pair of glasses are very essential . It makes everything so much easier.

Contact lenses can only do so much...and were never meant to stay in one's eye for more than 8 hours at a time (I've been guilty of keeping them on for more than a day for convenience.) If I'm not careful, I might be using them Toric contact lenses, which the optometrist says cost Php 2000.00 a pair, ten times the amount I pay for my regular disposable pair. Toric contact lenses have a special adjustment for those who are astigmatic.

When I was younger, I was always curious about wearing glasses...they were always interesting. I was somehow convinced that they made people look smart...like genius. I'd try out my uncles' or grandparents' pairs, if I weren't practicing "the squint" (which I've seen some people do when they didn't have glasses on). "I want glasses, Ma." I'd say. I'd never get them. It was only in my junior year in college when I finally decided that my eyes needed "crutches". So I got myself tested, and sure enough, I needed a pair. 

And then shortly afterwards, I started wearing contact lenses...and I haven't stopped since. I don't even like them colored. (I just like them clear and natural.) 

It's not easy being somewhat "blind", you know. Without glasses, everything is murky, as if you were underwater and everything has a fuzz on its outline...and sometimes you can't even tell the color of something someone holds up in front of you because your eyes are playing tricks on you. Not having glasses on made me nauseated. 

I don't know which is worse, though. To have glasses, but to have them so uncomfortable that you'd have to constantly push them up your nose...or that you'd have to adjust their hooking behind your ears just so they'd fit. I'd picked out a pair just recently, about two months ago. On the day I bought it, I thought it was a good choice...but I kept going back to the place to have it adjusted and readjusted. And it was heavy, and got in the way. How could I not have seen it?

So when I wandered into an optical shop to get a bottle of lens solution, I got my eyes tested again, and found a pair of glasses that I liked. The instant I put it on...it was an exultant, heavenly experience, the crystal clarity of everything around me made me almost giggle with delight.

Heaven is clear vision, all over again. :-) I don't mean to make such a big fuss over getting new eyeglasses, but really, once you get the one that fits "just right", you don't ever want to go back again.( And that, I'm convincing myself, was enough to justify the purchase.) I couldn't help myself. I was definitely looking for comfort, and a "better deal", and it was definitely not because I got tired of my older glasses. :-s

Glasses are good, and you can be all fashionable with them, but really, honestly, if you ask me, I'd rather have my 20/20 vision back. The optometrist told me that most near-sighted people have a history of intense reading (i.e. reading in bed, reading in low light, repeated eyestrain, etc.). Somehow, that isn't very comforting.

...so I won't suggest you start.

~ S.