Hiding

I had glasses for a long time. I was about ten when I got them and twenty-two when I got contacts for the first time.

Now, some people love glasses. Some people look good in glasses. I am neither of those people. That whole time, all twelve years, I hated my glasses. I wished I could get rid of them. They took up too much of my already small face, they made people judge me before they knew me. In middle school, when I had braces and frizzy hair, I really and truly loathed them.

So when my sister got contacts this year and my parents discovered that our insurance actually gives better coverage for contacts than for glasses, I leapt at the chance to get rid of them forever (hopefully).

At first my face looked strange and bare. I'd try to push up glasses that weren't there. But gradually, as I got used to wearing contacts I realized that I'd been hidden behind my glasses for all of those years. I'd brush my teeth in the morning and look in the mirror. Then I'd cover up the person I saw there with my glasses.

Maybe no one else ever saw me as hidden or thought that the non-glasses me might be different than the with-glasses me. But I did. I lived my life all those years feeling hidden and unseen. It's a strange idea, but since I've gotten contacts I feel fuller. I feel as if people can really see me for who I am, for the first time in years.

So, think about it. If such a little thing can make such a big difference, what's hiding you?