The Power of Glasses

I sometimes put on my glasses as a way of tricking myself - as a way of making myself see clearer. All at once, looking down Locust Walk, the flowers on the trees become crisper, the cracks in the bricks more visible, and students' faces more distinct. How funny that I have to put on a lens to my eyes to see clearly, but somehow I can't help to think how one scratch or one smudge completely messes up my view looking through the perfectly placed espejuelos. These smudges and scratches on our eyeglasses are so much like the scratches we endure on a daily basis - the lost job, the broken relationship, a failed exam - but it can also even break down to the smaller smudges that fog our vision - the boy who didn't call you back, the friend who doesn't have time for you, or the sent text that went unanswered. How easily these small letdowns can cloud our frames of vision. But somehow my trusty espejuelos still seem to make me feel more powerful - giving me the ability to see life through another pair of eyes, a pair that is clearer, sharper and more transparent. Many times I wish it were true; that my glasses could give me that type of power to see all things with such crispness, clarity, and knowledge. My decisions would be that much easier. But like I mentioned, it's all a trick, an illusion to correct my retinal vision but not my spiritual, emotional, or academic visions. Once the glasses come off, the smudges return and as much as I pray and hope, the scratches always continue to scrape even more roughly from the inside.