You can tell a lot about a person from the way that they look at you, to the way that they look through you. Eyes guide our way to new perspectives and open up a whole new world. When words aren’t enough, eyes say what needs to be said.

Eyes are the only part of you that doesn’t change with age, and it’s the eyes that show you the doorway to the life those around you have lived. They are the escape of tears, created through joy or sadness they portray a power nothing else can compare to. There is no language barrier when it comes to the eyes, they shed wisdom and knowledge with every blink and hold a grasp on emotion far stronger than that of any other capacity.

With my time spent in Indonesia I came to discover an unsettling amount of uncertainty with those I was meeting. The language barrier and the difference in life experiences I found it difficult to foster an immediate connection with those I met. Until I discovered the language of the eyes; by sitting with someone and simply exchanging eye contact you can truly understand a lot about a person. You can see pure pain, joy, curiosity and anger in a way that doesn’t need interpretation.

Emotion is a universal language and eyes are the mouthpiece, the power is in the eye contact and the reflection of how you feel with a simple look. You can see heritage and age, and get only a glimpse of what they may have experienced with their time here on earth but enough to understand them in more than a surface level way.

This language is widely instinctive and carelessly pure. From small children curiosity is sparked from what we see and how we see. This language is ingrained in us from day one, that moment our eyes open for the first time, that right there is the seed that’s been planted to understand the life we live.

Shapes and colours; it all builds the scene for our everyday life. It’s an art form, it’s communication.

This communication is being able to understand what isn’t being said. They say a picture speaks a thousand words… a communication form with no spoken words but a flood of both understanding and connection.

What I love most about this language is that there isn’t a limit of the people you can reach with artful communication, there’s no language barrier, there isn’t confusion; just art, and familiarity.

Tension is filtered through this language. From a smile to cut through it, or an attraction that solidifies it more, the eyes have the power to affect your relationship with those around you.

One of the coolest part of this language is the ability to create a connection from nothing from a distance. That eye contact with strangers across the room has the ability to spark more emotion than even a touch. Eye contact is everything.

Avoiding eye contact also speaks volumes, whether it be the shyness or the guilt, eyes say too much that when in doubt people will hide them for that reason alone.

It’s humbling and vulnerable to give so much of yourself away with just a look, but when you receive the same in return from those around you, you see the balance in the language of the eyes.