Seeing the world with new eyes and corrected lenses, too

Ophthalmologist's retail section for eyeglass frames

Seeing so many eyeglass frames on display can be akin to the experience of facing Too Much Information, TMI. But with the experience from earlier frames, the customer can usually narrow the search and only look for something similar, rather than having to study each and every variation on size, shape, color, texture and so on. If it is the first pair ever worn, then the staff can make suggestions to begin with, too. But a larger reflection from seeing this scope of choices and range in prices levels is that good vision is usually available to everyone who has no large visual impairment. Those with insurance subsidy do not have to pay out of pocket for the entire expense. Those with no insurance, and who cannot afford any payment probably will be eligible for basic eyeglasses paid for by the business owner, a local funding source, or possibly a program of the state government or a charitable (service) club with focus on vision, such as Lions/Lioness Clubs.

Besides the fact that modern life allows most people to have some kind of corrected vision, including the well-developed ecosystem or infrastructure (testing, trained professionals and licensing, supply chains and production capacity), there is the philosophical dimension of extending the useful life of vision for most everyone. Centuries ago, a variety of eye problems - congenital, developmental, or by accidents of life and livelihood - reduced the visual powers and pleasures and functionality of people young and old. In addition to the eye conditions at birth or later on in life, the aging process generally results in weaker visual power ('old eyes' or prebyopia). At the same time, literacy was less important to most people's day. So impaired vision was perhaps perceived as normal and less a hindrance than it would be today when oceans of printed matter fill the landscape and mailboxes, too. On top of that are the tiny screens and microscopic text size of Internet portable electronic devices.

In summary, as a practical matter it is good that modern life's literacy-dependent routines and decisions also come with relatively ubiquitous eyeglasses (or contact lenses, or corrective surgical procedures). Being able to see clearly is not simply a quality-of-life issue, it is basic to survival in the Information Age. But good vision is also a philosophical matter, since "I see" means both visual perception but also "I understand." In other words, what we see is often the same as what we know. Naturally, there are times when the meaning of something is NOT what it looks like at first glance ("don't judge a book by its cover," and "looks can be deceiving" since "you only see what you want to see"). However, there is a close relationship between good vision and good understanding. A land of poor vision may well also be a land of poor understanding or incomplete (mental) pictures of life. 

So at this high-altitude, abstract and philosophical level, when looking at this photo of hundreds of eyeglass frames, it is fair to think of all the people now walking around with corrective lenses (contacts or eyeglasses) in modern times who, long ago, may have gotten along in life with weak or even non-functional vision. Stated in reverse: the fact that most people today do have the opportunity to see clearly suggests that most people today also have the opportunity to scrutinize, focus on, and look into matters in such a way that they expect to produce sharp images and understandings; not a blurry or an unknowable grasp of reality. Widespread visual health may be overlooked or taken for granted, but it is more than a mere convenience and a basic condition for living in a word-heavy cultural landscape. It is also a worldview; a set of assumptions that one's surrounding life should be in focus and transparent. 

More visitors come to see, smell, and record flowers and trees

click for full-size view: panorama, early April 2019 expansion of botanical gardens

With months still to go before completion of the enlarged visitor center and programming areas the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park continues to draw visitors from the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan and surroundings, as well as the wider state and Midwest region. Informational signage near the ticket counter tells of the current facilities' capacity being overrun, thus the need to accommodate the rising numbers at present and projecting into the future: more parking, more food and gift buying spaces, and toilets enough for everybody.

At a time when portable electronic devices tied into the Internet seem to distract and dissipate the focused activities of children through the elderly, it is heartening to see that some people make an effort to visit and admire the seasonal changes on display in the indoor and outdoor spaces around this piece of ground. There are signs of small increases in public attention and concern about human-caused loss of habitat, the rise in extreme weather events, and the responsibility borne be individuals and governing authorities. Both local and national authorities can curb or incentivize organizations and private companies to reduce the harm caused by their operating practices of sourcing, consuming, producing, distributing, and disposing of unused materials, heat, light, and waste.

The relationships that people develop and sustain with their physical environment and the spaces they inhabit in warm seasons and cold have changed over the generations and in direct consequence of available gear for dressing, getting around, and communicating over long distances. Each time people gain more control, power, and insulation from the physical facts of their surroundings, their own biological facts, and the habits of thinking that follow from the new normal, one consequence is less frequent and shallower connection to the natural world. Projecting this trend a few more decades into the future, it is possible to imagine more and more people who rarely get muddy shoes, are wet from rain, are chilled by falling temperatures, or who are bit by a mosquito or fly. What those future people know of non-human lives and cycles then comes not from direct experience, but is mediated by screens and on-demand reading, hearing, or viewing. Occasional black-outs, accidents, or deliberate expeditions "off the grid" will lead some people, sometimes to encounter places and events with relatively little human interference or administration.

The wide photo, above, stitched from two frames is a record of the new and expanded visitor entrance and related wider facilities to hold larger groups and bigger numbers of attendees. As work wraps up in the months ahead and traces of construction are tidied up, future visitors may come to believe the new, larger layout has always been at that scale. But returning to this photo is one way to remember the dynamic scale of human engagement with the many plants and animals inhabiting these grounds.