AT first SiGht

There is some point in our life that we are so envious of what we have and what others have. We keep on comparing ourselves to others. We find ourselves despairing doing such. We try to think of something that we aspire to possess in order for us to be performative.

These illusions may trigger us to be someone we wanted to be where in fact we are not. Discontentment dominates in us. With these actions, it only shows how selfish we are. We are just focus to our own selves not considering other existence. We do not appreciate all that we have which we actually need to do. Accepting what we are, what we possess and what is our role enlivens us to live peacefully in our society. We must live out everything in maximum capacity that god expected us to be. We must be thankful of all these gifts He has given to us.

Upon watching the movie “At First Sight”, I was mesmerized with its twist. From the start, it is somehow an ordinary love story. The plot moves smoothly as I expected it to happen. After the struggle, the couple lives as they should be. The conflict represents the handicap that the protagonist has – blindness. After undergoing the process of surgery, I expected that everything is all right. However, it was not that easy. It led to more complicated situation to the protagonist. It happened that life seemed to be difficult for him in such predicament he was with. I was amazed of his decision to be as he was. Seeing the world with his eyes was not that easy for him. Deceptions may lead him to judge things that surround him. He made him convinced that his sense of touch is more powerful than what he sees. That is why he preferred to be blind again but can see the world as it seems to be. Rather that seeing the world with his eyes but blind with its reality.

From the movie, I learned a lot. I learned to appreciate the gift that I have, the senses that I possess. With these senses, it enables me to relate myself to the world and to all things that surround me. It enables me to appreciate the beauty of nature and make my own perspective as what I can perceive using these sense. I am able to see the life of the earth, the reality of life’s complexities and good things around us. I am able to feel the caress of my friend, the pain of injustices and the heart ache from rejection. I am able to hear the clamor of nature in perilous cause of destruction, the advice of my friend and lessons of my teachers. I am able to taste the prepared dish of my mother, the salt of the sea and the sweet chocolates and cakes during Valentine’s Day. I am able to smell the fragrance of my perfume, the stench of dead animal in the street and the natural fragrance of a baby.

 It is indeed, senses make my life more meaningful one. It deliberates us the enthralled experienced of perception and sensation. I also learn that our senses are not an assurance to see the real reality. We may deceive with the things we feel, see, hear, taste and smell. Our judgment sometimes is not necessarily because we sense it. It is something rooted in a more depth of the reality.

What we sense is a form of knowledge, thus it follows that there is an object of knowledge. That object of knowledge we are conscientiously striving to know is not the reality per se but only part of reality. Indeed, what we perceive is what reality looks like not reality appears to be such.


 (Lo Ivan R. Castillon September 11, 2011 Reflection Paper)