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2005-07-25

My eyes

I really like my eyes.

But I haven't always liked them.

I was born with the traditional blue eyes that most babies start with, but when they changed, the right eye turned partially hazel.

I wasn't aware of this until I entered elementary school. So I'm not sure when it happened. However, I was made aware of my eyes as soon as I actively entered into peer interaction. In other words--public school.

I was a shy little thing. I just wanted to please people (some things never change) and blend into the background. Don't get me wrong, there has always been a littl show-off in me, but in personal interactions I have always preferred to remain chameleon-like. So when people started noticing my eyes, I cringed.

The kids thought it was interesting and would point it out to anyone who would listen. I retreated into my shell and wished I had two blue eyes. It was when I was in third grade that my sister got her contacts. She told me they had such things as colored contacts. It was then I wished I had a vision problem.

By the time I was in middle school, my smartass shone through. I still hated my eyes. Why did I have to be different? But I found enjoyable ways to have the last laugh.

People have always asked me the silliest questions. So I came up with some silly answers.


Silly person: Wow! Your eyes are different colors! Do you see colors differently?

Me: I don't know, is that grass over there purple?

Let me explain my perceived silliness of this question. Unless you are legally colorblind (which wasn't the question I was ever asked) who knows how someone else sees colors. Colors are very subjective. We are told the sky is blue and the grass is green. For all we know, these colors look different to everyone. I have even toyed with the idea that everyone has the same favorite color, we've just been taught it was a different color.

I like green. What if someone else sees what appears to be the color green to me, but they see it as blue. And they say their favorite color is blue.

It's all subjective. So to ask if I see colors differently, how would I know? Unless I couldn't distinguish between colors, which is color-blindness and not at all common in women.

So I found the question to be silly.

Once I had these boys convinced that I only saw the color purple unless I wore my special sunglasses (that happened to have the word "Sony" printed on the side). He he. Boys can be so silly.


Silly Person: Hey! Did you know that your eyes are different colors?

Me: What?!? Oh no! What color are they now?

SP: Well, that one is greenish and that one is blue.

Me: (wandering off while muttering) I can't believe this is happening to me now. This is so much worse than before. Oh no.

How could someone not know that their eyes are different colors? I mean I do live in a society that has mirrors. Not to mention that everyone likes to point out my eyes to me regularly. Seriously, how could I not know? Silly question!

By the time I got to high school, I was beginning to like my eyes. This was fortunate timing because it was the only time that I can remember getting teased for my eyes. If that had happened while I was in elementary school, who knows what would have happened. I would probably be wearing colored contacts now.

The one thing I really like about my eyes is that sometimes they aren't very noticeable. I have had several friends that I knew for years before they noticed my eyes. Whatever the reason, the hazel eye sometimes appears blue. It's not clothing, but it might be lighting or my mood (they seem to change with my mood). I do know I have some blue in the hazel eye, so it does, at times, appear blue.

At any rate, I'm glad my eyes are my eyes. It is one physical characteristic that I really like. That and my calf muscles. I may be out of shape and overweight, but I've got killer calf muscles, which bear the scars from my surgeries. I wear those scars with pride because I was faced with a challenge and came out stronger on the other side.

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