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| 'Look Around You', Pencil on Paper |
The reason for today's drawing is one of reflection basically due to some recent events and a conversation I had earlier today reminiscing about childhood. It's strange how when we tell a story about something that happens to us in the years gone by, one of those 'I remember when...' moments that some things tend to stick in your mind so vividly that you can recount them in the most minute of detail. Whilst on the other hand many elements of the story fade into obscurity, those 'I'm not exactly sure...' moments, as over time you decide which are the important things to remember and cling to those. In many ways it's not too dissimilar to remembering someone who is no longer in your life, for the most part we focus on remembering the most important elements, that being the positive times in your relationship, as focussing on the negatives just seems to petty and inappropriate. It is also in these times of reflection that we question why we wasted what time we've had or why we took certain things for granted in the first insance and to refer to that old cliché you indeed 'never know what you had until it's gone'.
This brings me to the story that the drawing refers to, that being I remember when I was quite young, only about 7 or 8, My family and I were going on some sort of trip somewhere?... but I'm not exactly sure where?... unfortunately this is one of the less important elements of the story so my mind has chosen to neglect it. What I do remember though, so clearly in fact that the thought of it still makes me shudder, is waking up that morning and not being able to open my eyes, and I mean literally. I understand now that at the time I had some grit in one eye which damaged it slightly meaning that they both became infected thus I was unable to open my eyes. However when your about 7 or 8 years old the concept of understanding medical afflictions is not something you've had the opportunity to fully grasp yet, as such the sheer terror I felt is something I don't think I've even come close to since. Luckily it wasn't permanent but still to this day the thought of losing something that I rely on so much frightens me in a way that I can't even describe. In saying this though there is a positive that can be drawn from losing something or even the thought of it. That being that in moments after the initial shock it often causes you to take a step back, look around you and re-evaluate things. Now I'm by now means suggesting that as a 7 or 8 year old boy after the initial shock I had some sort of great revelation or epiphany, in fact I'm pretty sure after waking up from surgery the only thing I had was some ice cream... but thinking back now it does make me realise that sometimes you do need to acknowledge that when you actually think about it, everything that exists around you in it's own unique way is pretty damn spectacular, so why not make the most of it whilst you can.
This brings me to the story that the drawing refers to, that being I remember when I was quite young, only about 7 or 8, My family and I were going on some sort of trip somewhere?... but I'm not exactly sure where?... unfortunately this is one of the less important elements of the story so my mind has chosen to neglect it. What I do remember though, so clearly in fact that the thought of it still makes me shudder, is waking up that morning and not being able to open my eyes, and I mean literally. I understand now that at the time I had some grit in one eye which damaged it slightly meaning that they both became infected thus I was unable to open my eyes. However when your about 7 or 8 years old the concept of understanding medical afflictions is not something you've had the opportunity to fully grasp yet, as such the sheer terror I felt is something I don't think I've even come close to since. Luckily it wasn't permanent but still to this day the thought of losing something that I rely on so much frightens me in a way that I can't even describe. In saying this though there is a positive that can be drawn from losing something or even the thought of it. That being that in moments after the initial shock it often causes you to take a step back, look around you and re-evaluate things. Now I'm by now means suggesting that as a 7 or 8 year old boy after the initial shock I had some sort of great revelation or epiphany, in fact I'm pretty sure after waking up from surgery the only thing I had was some ice cream... but thinking back now it does make me realise that sometimes you do need to acknowledge that when you actually think about it, everything that exists around you in it's own unique way is pretty damn spectacular, so why not make the most of it whilst you can.
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