Mid-September 2022 Newsletter

Hello, and a magnificent special Mid-September to you!
Welcome, or welcome back, to my newsletter. Today's issue is about being curious. Enjoy!

Parents and grandparents can get annoyed at a young child who keeps asking "Why?" or "How does this work?" about every little thing, from natural phenomena like the weather or seasons, to other people's behavior. Sometimes there's a helpful educational answer, and sometimes there is none -- that's just the way the world is. Curiosity is a positive human trait, since that's how we expand our knowledge base and the human race moves forward.

If you're naturally interested in something, whether it's a sport or a musical instrument or an animal or a craft, you want to learn all about it. I worry about the folks who aren't curious about anything, just going through the motions of their day, accepting what others tell them without question. When I stumbled onto the amazing (to me) idea that improving human eyesight was possible, I wanted to read every book I could find about it, and study with the top teachers. Why hadn't I heard about this when I was younger, getting thicker eyeglasses every year?

Like the baby with the mirror, our early curiosity is often about ourself. "Oh look, I have toes!" as we reach for them. Then we notice the differences between us and those around us, in appearance or behavior. It was a constant source of puzzlement to me as a child why I needed glasses to see well, and most others didn't. What was wrong with me, and could I fix it? What were they doing right that I wasn't?

In the years I've been studying vision improvement, I've learned there is no magic secret to better eyesight. It's largely about paying attention to our habits (yes, being curious about them), then adopting better more healthy habits to help our visual system thrive. They say spotting similar patterns in diverse areas is a key sign of intelligence. So if you realize, like I did, that you approach work tasks and household tasks and exercise tasks with that same driving intensity, then when you look at your visual habits you find you're also pushing and straining to see, this is good information. Your activities and your vision might benefit from a more gentle approach.

Martha Beck is credited with saying "How you do one thing is how you do everything". When I got curious about how I was (mis-)using my eyes, I saw how often I was expecting them to perform and produce, while giving them little rest or gratitude. I had been treating my precious visual system like my slave, or like a machine I never expected to have to maintain. I didn't listen to my eyes' cries for help when they regularly gave me eyestrain, after staring at a computer screen for hours, trapped behind my strong contact lenses.

Thankfully, it did not take a serious eye disease for me to begin paying attention to my vision, or to the strong and loud feedback it had been giving me. I made changes, learning what my eyes and visual brain needed to thrive and improve. Since my sight is so valuable to me, this is an ongoing practice, as I tune into what would make my vision happiest, then do my best to give that to us. I am partners with my eyes, as with the rest of my physical being, and it's up to me to optimize our existence so we can thrive. Please be curious about your own health, visual and otherwise, so you can maximize your time here. We need the best you have to give.

For those curious about natural vision improvement, listen to this podcast, where another vision teacher and I read and discuss classic articles from Dr. Bates, who founded this practice.

Have you wondered if my work could help you?
I'm now offering complimentary Discovery Session consultations of 20 minutes or so, for us to discuss what you're looking for in a coach, and to see whether you and I feel like a fit to work together formally. To schedule your Discovery Session, click here.

Do you want your own copy of future newsletters?
If a friend forwarded this to you, or you're reading it from Facebook or LinkedIn, this is a hit-or-miss method of receiving it, and you might not see it next time. If you'd like to be on my distribution list, you can join here. You can un-subscribe at any time. Thank you!

Please send me your questions and comments
Let me know what you've wondered about concerning energy medicine or vision or dreams. I'll be glad to write a short article addressing that topic. Thank you to those who have sent me questions, or see a question you asked me in a private session written about here. You're helping many other people! Enjoy the remainder of this spiffy month of September. I'll write again in a few weeks. Take care!