I hope all is well with you.  Haram means forbidden, and in the islamic sense, if you do something haram, it is a sin.  If you already know this, forgive me, i just want to make sure we are on the same wavelength : )

When we are asked a question regarding Islamic rules, we cannot answer
according to what we normally do, or what we feel is right, or what we
feel contains no harm.  The answer must be according to Islamic sources
alone.

I may argue that I remember Allah always, so its not necessary for me to
pray 5x/day.  If I miss a prayer, i dont feel like ive done a HUGE sin,
afterall, i have hurt nobody nor have i deceived or wronged anyone. But
Allah Has commanded salaat, and if He (SWT) is really in my hearts, then I
will not disobey his command, and even if I do, I will not tell others
that it is ok to disobey Him.

I may argue that so many good Muslims do not have a beard, or that  beard
does not make a bad person into a good person, or that is has no influence
on character or imaan.  I can say that a bearded man who misses his salaat
is worse than the non-bearded man who prays sincerely.  This does not mean that shaving is Halal, because the bottom line is, Mohammad (SAWS)
commanded men to keep a beard.

So just because we look into the eyes of people of opposing gender and
feel no harm because they are our friends, or they are 'like our
brothers', this does not mean that it is not sinful.  The only way we can
judge if it is sinful or not is to look at the Islamic ruling on it, and
forget about what we think about it.

The Quran is very clear that the believing men and woman must lower their
gazes in the presence of eachother.  We should avoid looking at eachtoher
directly, that is the rule, regardless of we feel or do not feel when we
look at eachtoher's eyes.

I hope Allah gives me the imaan to practice what I preach.
Ma as'salaamah