Although you should already know this…
“This post does not provide medical advice It is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Never ignore professional medical advice in seeking treatment because of something you have read on this post. If you think you may have a medical emergency, immediately call your doctor or dial 911.”
What if the eyes are the answer to everything?
We’ve heard… “look outside yourself.” By seeing others and their struggles we can either/or/and realize we’re not alone and be in a position to possibly help.
They keep term here is “look”. No one ever says “listen” or “feel”, or even “smell” outside yourself. It’s always “look.”
The Art of Seeing
I read this book called “The Art of Seeing” by Aldous Huxley. The same author who gave us “The Doors of Perception” which is about his experience under the influence of mescaline. He has a history of writing provocative books.
What I got from his book (in a nutshell):
- Eyes are a muscle and muscles need to be worked.
- Prescriptions are crutches, they merely compensate for the problem.
- Sunglasses are also crutches, they keep our eyes from exercising.
- Looking at the sun is a good thing.
I know what you’re thinking…”Whoa, Karin! Looking at the sun is a good thing? I think Mr. Huxley is still on the mescaline. I don’t know if I want to listen to this guy!”
I say to that, “Hey! Talk to optometrist if you feel it’s best. I would never tell you to do something against your doctor’s wishes.”
Just so you know, Aldous was legally blind and was able to see again due to these techniques…jus’ sayin’
I do find it highly suspicious that optometrists tend to work in eye glass retail stores. It feels like a conflict of interest to me. I went the eye glass route for a year. My eyes kept changing and the glasses didn’t work anymore (pre-diabetic). I must have had 5 pair of glasses before deciding to put the glasses down and just go with readers. Way too chaotic, and expensive.
Aldous made sense to me. Ever since, I haven’t worn my sunglasses, and I stare at the sun, freaking out people I know when I do it. My eyes love it.
But that’s me, and this whole section was mainly to show you where I’m coming from.
The Last Few Years
Like a lot of people, I often drop things I tell myself I should be doing. The thing that I didn’t do was continue exercising my eyes completely, and I kept wearing my readers.
Things have been hard on me. Problems in the community I was in, riots, Covid19, Isolation, and depression. I have had this running commentary going on in my noodle about all the bad in the world. My health has taken a nosedive due to the stress. And I couldn’t stop it. I even tried giving myself a slap when I went down that hole. Relief only lasted a day or so.
A very small part of me was thinking of checking out completely.
I can’t sleep a lot of the time. My stomach has too much acid. My kidney’s buzz. (it’s so annoying to have that going on when you’re trying to sleep) My body is inflamed, and I have 5 herniated discs. I’m in pain all the fucking time.
My eyes pull together, and when they do, I get headaches and sinus problems. And it makes sleeping even more difficult.
So, I do some eye exercises to get them to relax enough so I can sleep. I have to make myself cry every so often as well.
Like I said, I stopped exercising my eyes completely, and was still wearing my readers.
This Last Week
So, I was grieving over my eyes and how tight they were where something occurred to me.
Yeah, I haven’t been exercising my eyes properly! I added 2 exercises to my routine. As I took my walks I:
- Focus on something far away, then focus on something close, then far away, then close.
- Stand still, head still and track cars as they pass with my eyes.
My eyes started to relax. It’s only been a few days but if I keep this up, I’ll have my eyes straightened out soon!
But I also noticed something else…
During the far and near focusing exercise, my noodle did not bring up all the crap I’ve been obsessing over.
It was like, if I’m looking out, open to the world physically, optically, then my brain has no space to yap dumbass crap at me.
When I found myself back in the hole again, I found that my eyes were tight and pulled in. I tended to look down.
I look out again, the negative thoughts go away.
It’s not just “looking outside yourself” in a metaphorical way. It’s also physical. And, sometimes, the physical is all some of us are capable of.
Today
I’m adding these exercises to my spreadsheet. (Yes, I have a spreadsheet keeping track of everything I’m trying to accomplish) Every day, as much as possible, I will look out far and near, and watch the cars pass by.
I’ve set down my readers today and I am actually writing this without them. (excuse my mistakes LOL)
In my old apartment on Capitol Hill in Seattle, my view was the building next door. There was nothing to focus on far away. I think that’s where I got out of the habit of doing that exercise. And where I started having problems.
In this apartment, I can see houses a block away, and the tops of trees several blocks away.
From now on, it’s a checklist item. My apartment has to have a far view.
I have a feeling I’m onto something here. I feel hope for the first time in a long time.
And if you see someone with their face and eyes lifted to the sun, smiling contentedly, don’t worry, it’s only me…
