Musings from a Green-eyed Girl

In my aerobics class, we had just finished exercising to Brown-eyed Girl, one of my favorite songs, when one of the women participants began walking around examining each of us. “Do you have brown eyes?” she’d ask peering at someone, then go on to the next exerciser.

“Do you have brown eyes?” she asked me.

            “No,” I replied, “but I used to. My eyes are green now.”

She seemed interested, so I continued. “I had light brown eyes with a little green around the edges. My sister had dark brown eyes but hers are green now too. My mother’s eyes were green, as are my brother’s. The other three members of my family have blue eyes.”

            I don’t know why she wanted to know; her eyes are a pale blue.

But I got to thinking about eyes, and how intricate they are, and what a miracle sight is. All of our body systems are intermingled with each other, so that each can do its job. How lucky are we that, most of the time, everything works?

            I also think it is amazing that everyone is different. Billions of people and no one is the same. Even identical twins don’t share all their DNA; it is changing a little bit while they are yet in the womb.

            Of course, we are only one species among billions of living things. Which brings me to the thought that we are all more alike than we are different; DNA proves it. So it is true that we are all in this together. Whether we like it or not.

            Does it matter what color your eyes are, or how tall you are, or what you like to eat? I believe that every person has value, and we could go a long way toward getting along if we all believed that. Our value is intrinsic, there is nothing to prove, we are born with it. True, some people are easier to get along with than others. And I cannot deny that there is evil in the world. So my belief is a little hard to defend.           

But I am weary of hearing so much about how we disagree. Politically, okay, we each may subscribe to a different world view – and rather noisily, I might add. But are we really all that different?

I give blood regularly, but no one cares that I am an older white lady with brown hair and green eyes. If your blood type is A+ and you need blood, well, my blood will probably do just fine, no matter your race, age or gender. Tattooed, long haired, bearded (not my favorite thing), my blood is good for anyone who needs it. Which is the reason I keep giving. It is not hard to do, and for little time and effort I can really help someone I don’t even know. My husband received several blood transfusions during his last days. We never talked about where the blood came from, but we simply appreciated that it was there when needed.

            I don’t want to stress myself about the people I share this world with, and whether we will ever see eye to eye. But it is a cinch that the “miracle” eyes we see each other with make us all special as human beings, and worthy of all the goodness we can bestow upon each other.