Blinded by the Light
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything but here it goes… I went blind for three days…
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Ok so here’s what happened, not too long go I left the printing business and took my old desk job at the EPA back. I needed a day shift and was willing to succumb to dealing with all the bullshit that came with a desk job and worse, working for the government. So it’s been great but ever since I acquired a new art studio ( of which I will address in another blog post ) I had to come up with more money. So now I’m doing freelance for the old sign company I used to work for… at night. I know…
So anyway, I work with large format Printers there and they use ultraviolet lamps to dry the ink simultaneously as it prints, and so basically since the print was being difficult i had to guide the material into the machine from behind which cause me to be waaaaaaay to close to the lamps AAAAAAAAAnd 4 hours later my eyes started feeling funny. It gradually started feeling like I was wearing a dry pair of contacts. Super uncomfortable to the point where my eyes were instinctively staying shut… which made driving home difficult. So I drove home super carefully and when I finally got home I tried to sleep but the pain was unreal.
This is called FlashBurn. Flashburn is the equivalent to sunburn but for your eyes. You can get it in many ways, like staring directly at the sun, an eclipse, or an arc weld for too long. In my case it was the printer. My dumb ass should’ve been more careful but of course I don’t dwell on what I could’ve done I had to figure out how to heal as quick as possible. Surprisingly I was very optimistic on it getting better on its own, but i saw a doctor anyway. He pretty much told me all I could do was rest my eyes… so I did. For three long days I was bedridden and didn’t know what to do with myself. Couldn’t watch tv couldn’t browse through social media couldn’t paint… everything I usually do to kill time, gone. It never donned on me how dependent I am of my eyes, it’s one of those things most people take for granted because its an everyday thing, but when its taken away from you without warning… it’s a real eye opener.. no pun intended.
So for 3 days I was home forcing my eyes to get better and it gave me a lot of time to think. I had a revelation. I’m useless. That’s right. Without my eyes I ain’t shit. I couldnt even try to be an artist other than maybe a sculptor but I aint the girl from the Lionel Ritchie Video… She was born blind!… I think. Becoming blind is like being born all over again with no sight only going around remembering what things used to look like.. could that be an advantage? I KNEW what color was… Is it a personal hell to have seen and never see again then to have never seen at all? I know what you’re thinking and no I wasn’t high throughout those three days. That would’ve just made my eyes feel dryer. After the 2nd day I became less sensitive to light and started regaining tolerance to the intensity. My eyes could open again but just for a few minutes. I eye dropped the fuck out of my eyes and eventually day 3 came and ultimately by day 4 I was good once again with a new perspective of my senses as a whole.
In retrospect I need to take care of myself more and realize I’m only human. I could be very careless and let the goals outweigh my own health sometimes. With that being said.. Back to work!