This is a phrase we use often. It can have a broad range of meaning, depending on the circumstances in which it is used. The phrase actually impacts our lives right from the beginning. As babies, none of us know the planning, the love and the hope that precedes most births. So many lives can be involved in the events leading up to the birth of a child. The relationships that can be impacted by the birth are limited only by the number of people involved. Parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles can all be directly affected by each birth.

The baby is totally oblivious to any of this, but it doesn’t make it any less real. Not wanting to over-simplify life, this scenario of most circumstances involving much more than is apparent in everyday situations can be said about many things. One of the aspects of childhood that illustrates the principle that there is more to something than meets the eye has to do with celebrations like birthdays and Christmas. As a child, the excitement that surrounds celebrations like these doesn’t begin to compare with the elaborate preparations that go into making these events the special times of real magic that they are. Even adults enjoy being amazed and surprised at times like these.

We routinely suspend belief to experience things that we find entertaining. Movies and television are clearly settings where the reality behind much of what is presented is clearly more than meets the eye. There have been a number of plots over the year when a character, whether through the device of supposed time travel or some other phenomenon is suddenly “introduced” to television. The simple, straightforward acceptance as real of the things they see on television makes a very interesting, entertaining demonstration of the fact that there is so much more to reality than what we are shown on media.

Another example of how we embrace the fact that there is more than meets the eye is how far we go when visiting some place like Disney World to completely set aside reality to fully experience the fantasy experience we are seeking. It is normal and perfectly acceptable to embrace the “reality” presented at Walt Disney World as long as we can remain clear as to where reality ends and fantasy begins.

Social media can make it more difficult to keep the balance of reality and fantasy since it is easy for anything we think to be presented with the same volume whether it is true or made up. It is difficult to know when there is more to any situation than meets the eye. Conflicting opinions, each able to find a voice of equal volume can and often does lead to real confusion.

In the context of a crisis, this confusion can lead to things like frustration and even anger. When we know there is more to a situation than meets the eye but don’t always know what that is, it becomes easy to allow emotion to overcome reason. Then the distinction between what is real based on observable fact and what is part of more than meets the eye becomes more difficult to determine.

As we move forward, it can be helpful to remember that there are many things in our lives that are more than meets the eye. It can be helpful to proceed carefully in dealing with others, recognizing how easily we can lose sight of what is important, a constant search to find what is true. Truth always meets the eye.

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