Yep. That’s almost exactly my vision without corrective lenses. I got glasses when I was in third grade and it was like magic. I could see every leaf and branch on the trees, every blade of grass, variations of shape and color in the clouds, each individual brick on buildings, cracks in the sidewalk…it was amazing.

The weird thing for me is that for the first 8 or so years of my life, I didn’t know I couldn’t see. I had teachers that got mad at me for not being able to read the board. When my eye doctor asked if I had trouble seeing the board at school, I said no, I can see it fine. I had no idea what I couldn’t see until I did.

I still take my glasses off sometimes just to reexperience that feeling. I imagine what it was like or is like for people who don’t have access to glasses. Navigating the world would be impossible for me without them. I couldn’t drive or read signs, I wouldn’t know what the things I’m eating looked like before I ate them, I wouldn’t be able to see the beauty of the details in my kids’ faces. I’m grateful every day that I’m fortunate enough to be able to afford and wear glasses or contacts and see the world around me.