Recently I was contacted by a woman who had been reading some of my posts. I’d published several photo essays — a collage of images accompanied by a little story. Scenes included my treehouse, the stream and the trail behind it, flowers and animals.
“You see life through rose-coloured glasses,” her email stated. I could tell that this was not meant as a compliment. Her email went on to tell me how foolish I was, that I was wasting my time being unrealistic.
“The world is not a pretty garden,” she wrote. “Don’t you follow the news?”
She was not the first person to tell me this. It’s unlikely she will be the last.
I’ve been thinking about this email and what this woman said. There is some debate about whether seeing the world through rose-coloured glasses (or rose-tinted spectacles) is a good or bad thing. I’m sure it’s up there with the argument about whether or not that glass is half-empty or half-full. Why, I wonder, would it be wrong? To see the world through rose-coloured glasses means I see things in a positive way. Such magical eyewear can be useful for filtering out all the things that are unpleasant. It does not mean that I live in denial though.
Of course, there are days when I am angry, disgusted, saddened and frustrated by what I see and hear. There are days when my failing health and the financil challenges I face seem overwhelming. These can be particularly dark days.
However, when I stop and take a breath and look at the world around me, the view from my balcony, the wonder and the beauty that is everywhere, I feel incredibly grateful. I am reminded of the simple pleasures that are mine for the taking if I just put on my rose-coloured glasses… So I do.
Proudly Australian owned and operated