There’s a well-known expression that says, “The eyes are the window to the soul.” Most people interpret this to mean you can understand someone’s true emotions or character by looking into their eyes. Joy, sadness, love, deceit, or emptiness — it’s all there, laid bare for those who know how to look. The eyes, in this common interpretation, reveal what’s inside.
But a recent reflection on that phrase reveals a deeper layer — one that’s easy to overlook: windows go both ways.
They don’t just let others look in. They also allow the person inside to look out. And when we think of eyes in that way — not only as a revealing part of the inner person but also as a shaping force — the expression becomes far more profound.
What We See Shapes Who We Are
We often think of the inner person — that quiet, authentic self — as something fixed, untouchable, and deeply personal. But what if that inner person is continually being shaped by what we choose to look at? What if our eyes don’t just reveal what’s inside, but also feed what’s inside?
Every day, we choose where to rest our gaze. Whether it’s on beauty or ugliness, hope or despair, truth or illusion — our focus molds our internal world. The things we allow in through our eyes — images, messages, experiences — etch themselves into our character. Over time, these inputs can nourish or poison who we are on the inside.
What we take in with our eyes becomes part of the material that forms our inner person. Look long enough at violence, and it dulls your compassion. Look long enough at goodness, and it strengthens your empathy. In a very real sense, we become what we look at.
A Choice and a Responsibility
This realization places a responsibility on us. We’re not passive observers. We choose what we keep looking at, what we dwell on, what we invite into our inner life through the lens of our eyes.
Are we gazing at the things that heal us or hurt us? Are we scrolling through images that devalue human life or reading stories that lift the spirit? Are we looking with envy or with gratitude, with lust or with love?
In an age where visual stimuli bombard us constantly—news cycles, social media, entertainment—our choices matter more than ever. Each glance is an intake. Each focus, a formation.
The Window Works Both Ways
Understanding this dual nature of the eyes — as both revealing and shaping — transforms the expression from a poetic observation into a guiding principle. If our eyes are a window to the inner person, they are not just a glimpse for others; they are a portal that connects our inner world with the world outside.
Others may look into our eyes and get a sense of who we are. But just as important is what we look at, and how that affects who we’re becoming. The window is always open. The traffic always two-way.
So the next time you hear that familiar saying, consider it from both sides. Ask yourself: not only what do my eyes reveal — but what are they taking in? And what is that doing to the person I am becoming?
Because in the end, the eyes don’t just reflect the inner person.
They help shape it.