Learning How to See

Myopic macular degeneration is here to stay, unfortunately.

My diagnosis was in the spring of 2019. I have always had a challenging time seeing. I got my first pair of glasses when I was very young, in elementary school. Thus began my journey, fighting the nearsightedness that was to plague me for all of my days.

A diagnosis of cataracts

My growing up years revolved around yearly vision checks and new glasses prescriptions over and over. Correction evolved to contact lenses, and then it was in my later years that I was diagnosed with cataracts.

I had this corrected and enjoyed a couple of years, only needing glasses for reading. Time marched on, and it was back into glasses full-time; thankfully, not the heavy coke-bottle lenses of years gone by.

My MMD diagnosis and treatment

Another milestone was the diagnosis of myopic macular degeneration (MMD). This caught me by surprise; I had never heard about this malady. I moved forward and got the needed treatment: injections to stem the bleeding.

It has been 3 years, and I am happy to say I am in a holding pattern. My checkups every 6 months have had the "everything stable" proclamation, thankfully.

Advice from an admired artist

Over all these years, I have loved creating art. All art. Spending most evenings dabbling in whatever catches my fancy. When I read the words spoken by an admired artist, I take notice.

Today's words by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) are the following: "Develop your senses, especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else."

Hearing these words about learning how to see is very interesting to me. As I work on creating an art project, I do spend a lot of time looking at whatever the subject may be. I often have an inner dialogue — should I go about my creating this way or that? There are times I walk away and revisit the idea, coming up with yet another direction to go about creating whatever it is. That is what I think of when I hear the words "learn how to see."

Learning to see that everything is connected

Of course, MMD adds another dimension to learning how to see — for me, at least. There are times when I really cannot discern what it is I am interested in replicating. The subject is almost faded-looking, hazy around certain parts. My solution most of the time involves adding more lighting, all over and up close — illuminating the dark and fuzzy to something a bit more clear, easier to really see and then recreate.

Throughout this whole process, as I work on my art, I realize that everything does connect to everything else. I often hear others say they "cannot draw a straight line," and my response to that is this: I really cannot draw a straight line, either, but I can make it look straight. It is the connection of the subject to the line that creates the line itself.

Da Vinci was a smart man. There is so much more to seeing than just seeing; it's the connections around it all.