Glasses Of Life

It all starts because we have a vision impairment.

We get asked if we have really have vision impairments or if the glasses on our faces are a fashion statement or accessory.

No, they are a necessity.

And when we wear them:

• We have to wipe the fog off when it’s warm or wet

• We get lost behind a veil of smudge. Don’t let any sales rep tell you differently- they are not smudge proof.

• Once we wear them, we have to stay committed to them all day since they ruin our makeup.

• We suffer injury on the bridge of our nose

• We can’t lie in bed on our sides to read

• We have a constant, pinching pain behind our ears

• We feel them slide down when we bend over

• We feel them slide up when you lean back

• We learn the hard way they are not foot or butt resistant

• We are expected to let everyone try them on

• We give ourselves whiplash as soon as children are placed in our arms so they can’t grab them

• We lose them and then sometimes we have to replace them even when they aren’t lost at this little inconvenient thing called an annual check-up.

But when we wear them all these things matter not, because we can read, walk without tripping; we can stop (we may choose not to) at red lights and we can experience life with our vital fifth sense.

And so goes the same with the glasses of life.

When we wear the metaphoric glasses of life, we are enabled to see things clearly. It may be through listening to a friend, slowing down, speeding up, traveling abroad, staying at home, thinking outside the box.

The pain that comes along with it, like the smudges, are worth it when what we envision from afar is suddenly close. When what was near or far sighted suddenly becomes a tangible success.

It’s just a matter of if you’re willing to wear the glasses. You see, when a vision impaired individual slips on their glasses, they do so knowing they are being compared to the trendsetters.

When the envisioned impaired decide to challenge themselves and wear the glasses of life, they might be compared to the trendsetters of life.

Speed up, slow down, travel abroad, stay at home, think outside the box: Others may be doing the same, and you may be called a copycat. It doesn’t matter because we can all look at the same thing, but what we see won’t be the same thing.

So, no matter what people think of you or say, never let the smudge keep you from wearing your glasses. Never let a vision impairment keep you from seeing. From living.

An Inside Scoop From An Outside Perspective

What’s it like working in an industry in which I have absolutely no history? To sit at an open space tribicle (three cubicles), and have a Mac desktop dock downloaded with software dedicated solely to this industry?

While I’ve never been directly asked this verbally, the eyes say a lot. When the company for which I work for is introduced, I’m assumed to be one of them. One of my co-workers. The presumption is an honor - but once the preliminary introduction is out of the way and the perfunctory handshake is shook, they really want to know, what’s my position if I’m not in their league? A marketing administrative assistant? Wait, how can I be a Girl Friday if I only work Tuesday-Thursday?

I have one program that individuals, kids, parents, college students, teachers use worldwide, so what’s so special about that? Microsoft Word. It can be painfully slow, but in the office it’s my fourth best friend. (Looking at me sucking up to my boss and co-workers.)

You see, I’m a copywriter and somehow the graphic designers around me found a reason to carve a space out for me.

What’s it like?  

Liberating

I wake up every workday knowing that I get to dress the way my mind thinks and my co-workers design.

What’s it like? 

Stimulating

I get to live by the 4 C’s: Collaborate. Create. And receive and offer Constructive Criticism.

Yes.

We manage to live successfully by them. Relatively drama free.

How?

•    You have to have a clear and open mind and open space that allows for open dialogue.

•    You have to have a trustworthy relationship with your peers, co-workers, leaders; whomever you are interacting with during your creative collaborative and constructive criticism sessions.

•    You need to learn to listen attentively and respectively.

•    And learn to talk tactfully; criticism and insults are not synonymous.

•    You need to learn to differentiate that just because a project is a “No” doesn’t equate that you’re a “No.”

•    And learn to take a compliment.

•    And give compliments every once in awhile. For every criticism, find a compliment or word of wise encouragement. That’s what makes it constructive. The compliment may be futurist: “When you do “this,” because I know YOU are capable of it. It will rock the mismatching socks of the audience and ca-ca poo-poo is going to hit the fan. It’s going to be awesome.” Even that kind of praise is welcome. Wacky. Deserved. Memorable.

I don’t have to be a mother to appreciate a well-behaved child. I don’t have to be a painter to take notice of an Albrecht Dürer piece of work. I don’t have to be a firefighter to sound the alarm of a burning building. I don’t have to be a baker to know when my taste buds are getting a dose of delicious pastry. And I don’t have to be a graphic designer to sit amongst them and their dexterity at visual branding.

I have no history in the industry I’m working in; at the tribicle of desks I’m sitting. But I have a future here. I will not design, but I will definitely be coming back because my Microsoft Documents and their InDesign Software tend to coexist quite well.