I was talking with a dear old friend of mine, Lee Barnes, this afternoon, kvetching about how wearing a mask means that we can’t see each other’s facial expressions. For this reason, and because I think wearing a mask may not do any good, if the so-called corona virus really is so teensy-weensy that it can penetrate just about any covering, and especially, because I just don’t want to buy into the fear-mongering that has sent the whole world into a tail spin, I told him that I was thinking of not wearing it again. The only reason I put it on in the first place (I’ve worn it only twice, my last two weekly trips to Aldi’s for groceries) is because I didn’t want my not wearing one to scare other people, especially since I am “old,” and so supposedly in one of the populations most vulnerable to disease.
But then Lee said something that blew me away. “It means that we now look in each other’s eyes,” he said. That one remark shifted me entirely, made me want to wear the mask. For if the eyes are windows to the soul, and if, usually, we don’t look in each other’s eyes, then this strange extended moment in time is a wonderful opportunity to meet each other, soul to soul. And it’s true. Fear. Longing, Kindness, Hesitancy, Sadness. Suffering — all forms of vulnerability are visible through the eyes, no matter how much we may try to “mask” them with our facial expressions. Wearing a mask then, which leaves only the eyes visible, has this decided upside. Thank you Lee!
I shouldn’t have been surprised that this remark came from him. Here’s a video of deeply intuitive Lee, a professional dowser, teaching “water dowsing.”
