Observation

[Deleted User]Mmart (deleted user)
in General

I just ran several errands and with most people wearing masks eyes become accentuated. I am amazed at all the beautiful sets of peepers there are. I have caught myself staring and would like to compliment but also at my age have to be careful of being looked at as a dirty old man.lol
You can also tell if someone us smiling by the sparkle in their eyes.
Anybody else noticing?

Comments

  • Sheena123Sheena123

    It’s so true! It’s obvious with my eyes when I’m smiling but for any other emotion, I’ve been trying to figure out how to use my eyes for those as well. Eye rolling, head tilting. That sort of thing. I agree though, pretty eyes everywhere 💖

  • [Deleted User]Mmart (deleted user)

    @Sheena123
    I have noticed your eyes before. Very appealing.

  • Sheena123Sheena123

    @Mmart aww thank you 😊

  • [Deleted User]cualtzin (deleted user)

    @Sheena123 so true. With masks covering so much, the burden of communication shifts to our eyes. Unfortunately I think I have angry eyes, I open them too wide.
    When I’m talking people tend to look away. So I try to give them only little doses at a time.

  • Sheena123Sheena123

    @cualtzin that can’t handle the power!! Lol I liken this to a learning curve. Something new to learn about your body and who you are. Something as simple as learning new ways to communicate with just your eyes. Makes you think.

  • DesignergirlDesignergirl

    @cualtzin Girl perspective here, been loving going about my days without a stitch of makeup on. I also notice people's intimate spaces are shrinking as it's harder to hear what we're saying. I may just keep wearing masks forever.
    p.s. you have nice eyes

  • Mike403Mike403

    @Designergirl - I have a mild-moderate hearing loss and have an issue with understanding what people say with masks on. I'm an electronics engineering student and have an in-person lab once a week and I struggle understanding what the professor is saying.

  • hugonehugallhugonehugall

    Maybe it’s just me but not one time since this has started have thought to myself “ Wow they have great eyes !! “ or paid attention to anyone’s eyes period. I look at masks as a means to an end to get stuff done when I go out in public IE the grocery store, the bank , whatever I need to do. I’m not paying attention to anyone’s eyes lol. To communicate I just listen a little closer and talk a little louder & slower.

  • MonkeyNeedsAHugMonkeyNeedsAHug

    I’m doing more hand gestures - thumbs ups, finger guns, sparkle fingers...

  • quixotic_lifequixotic_life

    @HoldenCaulfield ~ "sparkle fingers"!!!

    That just made my day! 🖐💖

    Tip-Tap jazz hands Sparkle Fingers!!! 🤗

  • mtpmtp

    Quick story--I promise it's related!

    Before the pandemic, I used to attend an annual dance retreat lasting from Christmas to New Year's, and one of my favorite bands would typically perform for some of those dances. Between dance sessions I was chatting with them and mentioned that I had never heard them play my favorite song at a dance. They said they hadn't played that song in a while, but they would see if they could work it in.

    Fast forward to the same event the next year. The leader of the band greeted me and promised they'd get to my requested song this time.
    HE REMEMBERED MY REQUEST. FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.

    And so, at some point during that retreat, we were on the dance floor with our dance partners, and I happened to be right in front of the band. Now, my requested song--a moving, soulful tune--starts with a distinctive jaw harp line. (That might sound weird, but bear with me on this.) Upon hearing and recognizing that line, I looked up at the jaw harp player with a huge grin. She noticed me, and while she continued to focus her mouth movements on playing the jaw harp, she gave me the biggest eye-smile I had ever seen. Her eyes went positively crescent shaped, as if straight out of anime.

    It remains the most memorable smile I've ever been given, and her mouth wasn't even involved.

  • mtpmtp

    Side note: my preferred form of dance involves a lot of sustained eye contact. (Typically, whenever interacting with another dancer, you acknowledge that dancer by locking eyes with them.) I occasionally had to remind myself that, out in the "real world", such eye contact can make people uncomfortable.

  • FlyingToasterFlyingToaster

    @HoldenCaulfield That makes me think of Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air talking about the wink and the gun when he thought he was going to be hired for a nice job

  • MorpheusMorpheus

    I’ve noticed I’m a lip watcher. I subconsciously read lips. With masks, I’ve noticed I’m not trying to read eyes. It’s definitely interesting.

  • [Deleted User]DarkLordChungus (deleted user)

    I have a tendency to look at people, but without actually looking at them. Masks becoming a thing hasn't changed anything for me—except that now I don't have to worry about what my lips are doing. I can frown and scowl all I like, and it's lovely.

  • [Deleted User]DarrenWalker (deleted user)

    The human face has so much going on with it that all the input is kind of overwhelming for me. Cutting it down to just the eyes doesn't really help, either. There's still so much!

    I don't tend to move my face a whole lot—a bit on the expressionless side, me—but boy oh boy other people sure go to town.

    The eyes alone are super expressive. Squinting, crinkling, widening... and then there's the eyebrows, and let's not even get into the things that go on with the pupils! Sometimes I think most of the face's data comes from the eyes, which is maybe why autistics like me tend to find eye contact so overwhelming, and also perhaps explains why anime artists tend to use their characters' eyes to convey information even more than they use the mouths.

    Pretty much all masks have done for me (aside from making me look cool) is keep people from assuming things about my feelings based on what I am or am not doing with my mouth.

    I like that.

    I may keep wearing masks even after this whole pandemic thing is over. Just, you know... 'cause.

  • hillbillyhillbilly

    I saw on online quiz a while back that only showed you cropped pictures of peoples eyes and you had to answer questions about their expression. I was kinda surprised that, overall, the results showed about an 80% accuracy for all respondents. My own accuracy wasn't nearly that good. Makes me wonder if it's my observation that's lacking or my interpretation skills. It still stuns me how much effect little cloth masks have had on our all our interactions-

  • [Deleted User]cualtzin (deleted user)

    @Designergirl @Sheena123 Thanks for the words of encouragement. They boost my confidence, make me want to venture back into the outside world. But I like the people I’ve been meeting here, so I’ll linger for a while 😊.

    @DarrenWalker Fascinating insight. People sometimes think that autistic people are detached. If they only how hard it is to sustain an interaction, when you feel everything so much. Too much to process, easy to get lost. Sometimes I feel I have an internal amplifier turned up to ... 11.

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