How I See Things

How I See Things
Cartoon-like drawing in shades of dark to medium purple. Eyes with beautiful eyelashes, looking through a pair of glasses.

Monday, April 13, 2020

Peripheral Vision

So, if you take your hands and pretend to use them as a pair of binoculars, you greatly limit your peripheral vision. It's as if you're looking through a cardboard tube, or you've got a pair of 360 degree horse blinders on.
Public domain image from https://thumbs.dreamstime.com

That's how I see. It's also called "Tunneling." Interestingly enough, my older son told me recently that "Tunneling" is also now a video game terminology. Who knew?

I have walked around my entire life, seeing only what I could see through my glasses. I couldn't see anything around them. To see somewhere else, I have had to always turn my head and look directly at whatever it is. Like a bird does, come to think of it. Have you seen how birds constantly tilt their head to look at something specific? It's entertaining. It's probably not as entertaining when I do it.

Well, one thing my vision therapist has had me do, is try to widen my peripheral view. In an early blog post, I shared a game that was very colorful, with blocks. I had to stack the blocks in a certain way.

Another day, my vision therapist had me walk on a sidewalk next to street signs like " no parking" signs. I was to look straight ahead, but be aware of coming up to, passing, and moving beyond the street signs to my side. That was interesting!

Well, I have mentioned also in this blog that I walk dogs. In my area of the planet, it's been winter. Not a completely freezing and snowy winter, but definitely cold enough to wear a sweatshirt and keep the hood up.

In the past, for the rest of my life in fact, I have worn sweatshirts with the hood up to keep my head and ears warm. I never thought about it.

Last week, I kept having to shove the sweatshirt hood back off my forehead, because it was blocking my peripheral vision!!! This is MAJOR!

I am becoming more aware of things in my periphery! It's a wonder that I never saw these things before. And now, when my vision is blocked, I miss it.

As I am sitting here typing this blog post, I see the sliding doors to my left and outside, my deck. I am staring at the MacBook screen and typing, but I see to my right, the living room and chairs and couch and TV. Wow. My peripheral vision has definitely opened up these last few months, thanks to vision therapy. WOW.

I am so grateful to have the team I do, helping me with my vision. It's amazing how much more my world is opening up thanks to several months of therapy. I still have several more months to go.

It's so nice being able to see more than only what I see through my eyeglasses!



Public domain photo. A pair of backlit glasses frame a sunset. 

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