Mid-August 2026 Newsletter

Hello, and a making-your-life-better Mid-August to you!
Welcome, or welcome back, to my newsletter. Today's issue is about our vision making us feel out of control. Enjoy!

Some people consciously choose experiences where they feel out of control, like a roller coaster ride, or a horror movie. That adrenaline rush could be the lure, if their ordinary life doesn't feel exciting enough. Being slightly startled can be fun for a child; think of how much babies like playing peek-a-boo, where they briefly lose eye contact with a safe trusted adult, then get it back. Yet if we haven't chosen the situation or aren't with someone safe, feeling out of control can be upsetting, even verging on panic.

Considering that scary out of control feeling, not being able to see well enough to function in your environment is one of the biggest contributors I can think of. It's no wonder people can feel so attached to wearing glasses, if they feel helpless without them. We can imagine their emotions screaming "Give me my glasses! I can't see and don't feel safe!", as they get closer to a panicked state. This discomfort is only pushed away and maybe forgotten about when the heavy lid of eyeglasses covers it up again.

The first thing I notice about the woman trying to retrieve the glasses she's dropped by feeling around for them is that she's not using her eyes to scan the area, only her sense of touch. She's looking away from where she's feeling for the glasses, if she's looking at all, as if she has no confidence in her eyes or vision unless it's caged behind glasses. The vision teacher in me wants to encourage her to start letting her eyes see whatever they can, without pushing them to "perform".

When I started learning about and playing with vision improvement for myself years ago, removing my strong glasses to do simple things with only my unaided eyesight was a big step. I found I was not "blind without my glasses" as people can so often (and incorrectly) say. Yes, anything farther than a few feet away was initially blurry, sometimes startlingly so. Yet I could see quite well up close, and was able to make out something as I moved my gaze out to the distance, whether it was big shapes or patches of color or a person moving. That helpless feeling of being out of control gradually decreased as I could see and identify more.

Teaching my visual system to look for smaller details, curiously, not obsessively, helped to increase my visual skill. This naturally led to being more in control, of both myself and my surroundings, significantly lessening that feeling of helplessness. My vision evolved on its own into a curious exploring childlike state of wanting to understand my surroundings more deeply. My gaze might jump from noticing a flower at my feet to examining one petal to inspecting the markings on a small insect crawling over that petal, then suddenly be attracted to a bird flying far overhead.

When we walk, we move from having our weight on one foot, then on the other, then on the first foot again. For most of us, standing on one foot for a long time with the other one raised is difficult, if not impossible. When walking, we're constantly losing our balance and getting it back. We don't feel out of control when walking, unless we freeze in mid-stride and start to lose our balance. If we keep moving, we're in control, and we know it. Let your gaze move freely too, scanning that area of interest which attracts your attention. Notice what you notice, then notice something else. You're more in control of your vision than you realize. Take comfort in that, and appreciate yourself.

Feeling in control and not powerless is a basic human need, almost as important as oxygen or food. For an old dream on this theme, click here.

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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 second half of this appreciating-Nature month of August. I'll write again in a few weeks. Take care!