The Lent Diary - March 3

Have you ever had a twitch in your eye? The kind that makes it impossible to see clearly?

I'm certain I don't listen to my body enough. It talks to me, swells up when it wants me to slow down, hurts when it wants me to soothe it, and twitches when it's trying to get my attention. It could just be a simple medical condition.

There are lots of medical explanations for why the muscle in the eyelid twitches. For starters it's called blepharospasm so you know it's a real thing. They don't make up Latin-derived medical terms for no reason. It can occur when you haven't slept enough, are worried or stressed, have dry eyes or pink eye. It can also indicate a more severe condition like Bell's palsy or Parkinson's disease.

Too often a benign symptom can signify the tip of an iceberg you don't want to uncover. Like the bruise on a shy woman's face. Or an elderly person using their favourite antique nickels for bus fare. There's more of a story there. Much more.

I don't know why I currently have a twitch in my eye but I'm sure there's more to it. Maybe warm compresses will help or going to bed early will solve it. Or maybe I'm worried about something.

Regardless of the underlying cause, my eye is trying to tell me something. My blurry eye that spasms every few seconds and prevents me from seeing the snowstorm outside is trying to get me to see more clearly.

And maybe it's time I listened.