Well, it’s just over a week and my vision seems intact. How about yours?

Leading up to the Great American Eclipse of 2017, there was much hype about the damage the once-in-a-lifetime view of the sun could do to our sight. Millions of people took heed, donning a pair of highly coveted NASA-approved safety glasses or the good old homemade pinhole viewer. I haven’t seen anyone stumbling around, so I think we made it through.

Living in the Southeast, I was fortunate enough to be close to the path of totality. My family drove a few hours away for the full experience and we won’t soon forget it. What an awe-inspiring sight – the heavens aligned for a couple of moments in time, plunging a summer afternoon into a surreal twilight and giving us a rare glimpse of the sun’s corona.

During the event, I snapped tons of photos of my husband, daughters, and their cousins we traveled with looking upward in their eclipse glasses. And I wasn’t alone. The next day, my social media feeds were full of similar pictures of people (and even dogs) of all ages in their safety specs with captions about their experience of a lifetime. And if they were indeed the NASA-approved glasses with the right code, they were all exactly the same.

On August 21^st, 2017, millions of Americans had a shared experience looking through the same lens. In a climate of political distrust and division, we united under the same sky.

 And then we talked about it.

In the days following, I’ve heard fantastic accounts from friends and neighbors – a last minute break in the clouds that allowed a clear view, adults jabbering like kids on Christmas as the moon covered the sun, spiritual awakenings, conversions to full-on umbraphile (that’s an eclipse lover, a term I learned just last week). 2024 anyone?

My guess is you heard stories from that day, too. They weren’t all the same, but they were equally meaningful. Kind of like our own life stories. No two alike.

I haven’t written in awhile, mainly because I’ve been living life – enjoying summer with my two young daughters. However, in that time, the events in Charlottesville, VA, produced a heated national debate on the racial divide in America – a debate that is far from over, nor should it be. It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter they just know is the right one.

But here’s the thing: when you form and then share opinions on matters such as racial equality (or lack therof), it’s easy to forget that your life experience, your story, is just that – your story, seen through your unique lens. And that affects your opinion.

Men, women, black, white, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim – we all see the world through different lenses. Your story forms your lens.

In other words, there are no on-size-fits-all NASA-approved safety glasses for viewing issues that divide our nation.

So what do we do? Well, I’m muddling through it all myself. I’m trying to see this season in our nation as a gift – a time to learn more about my neighbor than ever before, and find a way to unite in more meaningful ways. I’m trying to listen before automatically forming an opinion.

So this week, I challenge you to listen to someone else’s story – someone who has lived a life different from your own. Ask them to tell you how they see the world. You might be surprised by what you learn. And the surprise, like seeing your first solar eclipse, may stay with you.

Here’s to an ever-changing view of what is and what may be.