Coming Into Clarity

    Our eyes are part of a dynamic system based on movement.  They move freely and easily in order to see well.  If they stop doing this, if they stare - for example, vision is diminished.  I learned this years ago after getting a prescription for glasses and choosing to do eye exercises instead .  In order to see better, I had to embrace the idea of relaxation as productive.  Allowing my eyes to take things in, in an easy way became the goal, rather than trying hard to see.

In my work and my personal life, my inclination has been to try harder - the eyes' equivalent of straining.  I often strive intently - going after problems with an intensity that ends up more like self-flagellation than focus. But like our physical eyes, true vision ( in-sight) requires the same room, softness, and ease to work its best. 

Resolution of any problem comes through clarity and clarity comes, ironically, from a soft focus. Gentleness and ease  stimulate new, progressive thinking and vision. To see a situation more clearly, to step outside of a perspective that's frightening, requires me seeing it without the judgments and definitions I've originally placed upon it.  I don't get to mentally stare at what scary thing I think is before me and simultaneously see clearly;  in order to see clearly, I must relax - whether I like it or not.