NewOrleans
Jedi Master
I've been away from this forum for, oh, about six months I guess. Personal hardships and all that I just didn't feel right about sharing. It's not been going well.
I'm just a day away from talking to a doctor about my planned double eye surgery next week. For an artist this is a big deal since these are my tools. It's been a long road to get this far. Months ago I was thinking that I just needed new glasses, but discovered that I had multiple eye problems. The fuzziness was me not the lenses. Luckily one of the best eye surgeons in the country is here in my city and I was booking an appointment when I was told, because of Diabetes, that I need to get that under control before any surgery could be done successfully. So with some discipline I reduced my diabetes to a manageable level and got a green light to start. My next hurtle was finances. My health care plan just didn't cover all of this this isn't shopping center Laysik clinic work and I had no extra resources. Reluctantly I started a GoFundMe page to raise funds and offered custom-made icon portraits as a reciprocal gift. I got about half way to my goal which is great but a kind of disaster fatigue set in and old friends don't talk to me much. I wasn't being a flaming drama queen about it. I just needed money. Being in a position of asking, I find a book by musician Amanda Palmer, "The Art of Asking "who had some insights into how to not feel pitiful, like a begger, when giving an opportunity for friends and strangers to help out. Well I didn't want to feel pitiful, because that can be a ruse for feeding on good natured people. Feeding in the sense Gurdjieff meant. I'm grateful for people who gave, I'm doing portrait icons in return to those who want them and I can manage the rest when I get work after my eyes heal.
But just the other day I went on Facebook, which I'd taken a hiatus from. And saw that Laura had written to me after something I'd written to her quite awhile ago and forgot...
Let me reach out my digital arms and hug you, Laura.and by, extension, all of your folks here. I may not have been an active participant, but I owe you a debt of gratitude for ideas and insights I'd never have gotten on my own. I know that so many here are going through health issues. Not JUST me. What I've learned in the intervening time is that Love heals. It sounds corny but I believe it's the momentum that moves us one step higher . Thanks.
I'm just a day away from talking to a doctor about my planned double eye surgery next week. For an artist this is a big deal since these are my tools. It's been a long road to get this far. Months ago I was thinking that I just needed new glasses, but discovered that I had multiple eye problems. The fuzziness was me not the lenses. Luckily one of the best eye surgeons in the country is here in my city and I was booking an appointment when I was told, because of Diabetes, that I need to get that under control before any surgery could be done successfully. So with some discipline I reduced my diabetes to a manageable level and got a green light to start. My next hurtle was finances. My health care plan just didn't cover all of this this isn't shopping center Laysik clinic work and I had no extra resources. Reluctantly I started a GoFundMe page to raise funds and offered custom-made icon portraits as a reciprocal gift. I got about half way to my goal which is great but a kind of disaster fatigue set in and old friends don't talk to me much. I wasn't being a flaming drama queen about it. I just needed money. Being in a position of asking, I find a book by musician Amanda Palmer, "The Art of Asking "who had some insights into how to not feel pitiful, like a begger, when giving an opportunity for friends and strangers to help out. Well I didn't want to feel pitiful, because that can be a ruse for feeding on good natured people. Feeding in the sense Gurdjieff meant. I'm grateful for people who gave, I'm doing portrait icons in return to those who want them and I can manage the rest when I get work after my eyes heal.
But just the other day I went on Facebook, which I'd taken a hiatus from. And saw that Laura had written to me after something I'd written to her quite awhile ago and forgot...
Let me reach out my digital arms and hug you, Laura.and by, extension, all of your folks here. I may not have been an active participant, but I owe you a debt of gratitude for ideas and insights I'd never have gotten on my own. I know that so many here are going through health issues. Not JUST me. What I've learned in the intervening time is that Love heals. It sounds corny but I believe it's the momentum that moves us one step higher . Thanks.