From my eyes...

For a person who spends so much time thinking about what goes on in my head--maybe more time than is healthy--I have just now gotten around to thinking about how my eye has affected my perceptions. Since I was born with one eye virtually blind, I have always seen the way I see, and have no basis for comparison; so, like anyone in a similar situation, what looks normal to me is not what others see. And this may be an analogy to my way of thinking, to the music I write and the paintings I make. For most people, my music sounds like it comes from another planet. My own family is baffled by it, although they are proud of me and the success I have enjoyed as a composer. When someone asks me where this music comes from, all I can say is that it is the music that I hear in my head. If it is strange, I have no idea. It does not seem strange to me. (For anyone reading this, if you would like to hear some, go to my website. There is a link in my profile). I do know this: my depth perception is not normal. I walk into things. I can't see things on my right side, and I get paranoid if I am walking with someone and they are on my right; I can't see them, I think I've lost them. When I drive, I frequently get into near-accidents because of this defective vision. Luckily I have incredibly fast reflexes--abnormally fast, according to a doctor who I once saw--and so I usually save myself from colliding. But maybe the way I have always lived in my "own world" (according to my family and friends) comes from the fact that I see things oddly. Or maybe not.