The Eyes Have It

Michelle Monet
Dec 23

You will always have the same eyes — no matter what age you are.

“… human eyes are the windows to the truth inside a person.” — Psychology Today

I was curious about this subject of eyes today because I saw an elderly woman at the grocery store. She had the brightest most playful piercing eyes. Although her face was covered in wrinkles and her body looked ravaged she emanated joy and peace — and wisdom.

I also thought about my 86 year old dad who had 4 strokes recently. He is in an assisted living place now. I went to visit him in the hospital last year in Denver.

His body was shriveled (Id never seen him look so shrunken) and he was skinnier. He looked so different to me, but the one thing that remained the same — almost the exact same — was the look in his eyes!

His eyes hadn’t changed at all.

I was sitting next to his bed. He looked straight into my eyes.

His eyes looked the same as when I was a teenager.

I felt I was instantly brought back to my teen aged years. I saw in his eyes the same look of judgment and criticism I felt when he caught me smoking and scolded me in Junior High or when he scolded me for eating too much Haagen -Daaz icecream, which he never wanted me to do because he didn’t want me to be fat. He was a champion athlete and believed in the importance of fitness.

In his eyes he also had the same look of — love?

This subject of eyes fascinates me.

I’ve heard that the eyes are seen as the window to the soul because they can give clues as to what another person is thinking.

The eyes are the ideal way of detecting peoples honesty as well as other various emotions of interest.

Photo by Daniil Kuželev on Unsplash

I’m sure there are times in your life when you look into the mirror into your eyes and see that they are dead. This happens with depressed and sad people a lot.

The sparkle is gone. You cant fake a smile.

Your eyes will always give you away.

“We all know that when people just smile with their mouths, the smile is probably false. When the smile includes the EYES, then it is probably genuine.“— Nicolas Fradet

Check out this genuine smile.

A genuine smile includes crinkled eyes?

Researching for this story I found so many interesting facts about this subject.

The most fascinating was that:
PUPILS NEVER LIE

What exactly do we see when we gaze into the eyes of another person? The eyes do provide lots of information about another person’s emotional state.

When people are sad or worried, they furrow their brow, which makes the eyes look smaller. Yet when people are cheerful, we correctly call them “bright eyed.” That’s because people raise their eyebrows when they’re happy, making the eyes look bigger and brighter. We can tell a true (or Duchenne) smile from a fake by looking at a person’s eyes. — Psychology Today

But the eyes are the giveaway: When we’re truly happy, we not only smile but also crinkle the corners of our eyes in a “crow’s feet” pattern. But when people fake a smile, they usually forget about their eyes.

Notice George Clooney’s crow feet.

I recall putting so much makeup on my face in my past thinking that I could somehow hide my shame and depression under the layers of eye makeup. I covered myself up… and my truth. I thought I could hide.

NOPE! The eyes tell all! I couldn’t hide.

Many women do this I think.

Have you ever seen a woman with very little if no makeup on who seems joyful and happy and more alive without the mascara and other eye makeup?

Ellens eyes seem to have a genuine sparkle.

“JOY IS THE BEST MAKEUP” — -Anne Lamott

For instance Ellen Degeneres. Her eyes seem to have a genuine sparkle. They twinkle. Her entire face gets into it. Her eyes look genuine.

Then there are celebrities who almost cover their entire eyes and face with makeup and you wonder how they look without any on. You wonder if their soul is dead.

Isn’t this the true goal for us women — to have a sparkle in our eyes no matter what or if we are wearing makeup? It is for me.

Genuine joy can’t be manufactured or bought at a makeup counter. I really think it must be felt from within our souls.

I love Louise Hays program called Mirror Work. She says to look straight into your eyes in a mirror. Any mirror.

She says not to look at your whole face — just the eyes — and say:

I love you. I really REALLY love you… or I’m so proud of you!... or YOU ROCK! or You’re doing GREAT!…or You’re a rockstar!! or…You are MAGNIFICENT!’

Anything that is said in a supportive way Louise suggests to say directly INTO your eyes.

It goes straight to your soul.

Also, any time you pass a mirror say these encouraging gentle and kind things to yourself.

Even at a grocery store. Go find the mirror and do this excersize there.Talk to your inner child self through your eyeballs.

It’s amazing stuff!

There is a power in this.

Ireally love older women who still have the sparkle in their eyes. Some even look more joyful and wise now than in their youth. Think Betty White!

This whole subject of eyes being the window of the soul is so interesting to me. Maybe it’s because I am older now and realize that much of my physical self has shifted.

There’s a peace in knowing that the eyes will always remain.

THANKS FOR READING!
http://www.michellemonet.com

Michelle Monet
http://www.medium.com