thistledown

it's been raining a lot these last few days, here in the green, soft West Country. my eyes love it; but having been flooded last winter, i retain an edge of nervousness, despite being better prepared than we were then. there's no doubt, though, that the vegetation is revelling in all this moistness and warmth! everything growing hugely, spilling over into the 'cultivated' parts of the garden - and somehow i can imagine how, when we humans have long since quit the planet, the plants will grow huge and abundant again, and leap free of their present contraints of concrete, containers and walls.

what has this to do with eyes? everything. it's too easy to become fixated on the eye's surface, and its discomforts, failings and needs. looking outwards helps move our attention to the world which the eye has so marvellously evolved to see. looking inwards - with the eye of the imagination - is similarly healing. eyes are so much more than information carriers: they create the world around us, and the world within us. we are right to be protective of them, but we also need to trust in their wisdom and self-healing ability.

and to this end, i worry that all the preparations which we use to ease our discomfort, can become something we come to depend on - ceasing to trust in the eye's own healing mechanisms; trusting instead those invasive chemicals which may well actively disrupt the ecology of the eye.

i am not saying that those of us with painful, or even just uncomfortable, eyes shouldn't use preparations; only that we should also be aware that there are additional ways to heal ourselves; perhaps more demanding ones, requiring trust, imagination and patience. it may be necessary to focus less on the eye's surface, more on the whole person's needs: why are tears so hard to produce? is it as much emotional as physiological? and where is the soul in all this - if the eyes are its windows?

the imagination is such a powerful tool. use it to momentarily 'see' the eyes as little oval pools, filled with clear water. use it to unleash the tears which are blocked by inhibitions, blocked by feelings of not being met, or cared about; tears witheld by having to be 'brave'. the inner eye is the hidden part of the outer eye, and something we may be in danger of overlooking.

- and, yes, of course i am advising myself - not you. putting these thoughts into words means i will think about them during the day - maybe even find myself outside, lifting my face to the rain, becoming part of that abundant, rain-soaked beauty. i hope so.