First TV show using pinhole glasses

Watched the second to last show of Angel series (dvd) this evening.  Used the pinhole glasses instead of my prescription glasses.  It was annoying at first.  Particularly when it came to trying to switch between watching the show and scooping food onto my fork.  Couldn’t see the food that well (low light).  After I was finally able to see the tv screen beyond the holes, I seemed to settle into looking through one particular row and finding the other rows disruptive.  There also seemed to be about two holes that were easier to look out of, and so I’d have to move my head slightly so that I could see the character’s faces as they switch and move about the screen.  Often the characters had 3-4 arms instead of just two.  And sometimes 2 heads unless I was looking directly at them.

These glasses definitely force me to focus on what I’m looking at.  Not stare at it, but actually LOOK at it.  It’s actually kind of annoying.  And I’ve got a bit of a headache too.  I don’t know how much of the double images I’m having is due to the glasses, or due to the astigmatisms of each eye.  What I do know is that even with the prescriptive lenses on, I don’t really LOOK at the characters.  When I’m walking around the block, I don’t really LOOK at the things around me.  I look around, but not AT.  It’s like, I use my eyes just enough to get by, but without having to do so consciously.  I don’t need to see the details of the car that’s heading in my direction, I don’t need to see the driver, either.  I just need to know that there is a vehicle moving in my direction and that if I scoot over I’ll be out of its way.  These glasses force the details of what I’m looking at into consciousness.  I think prescriptive lenses do that as well, particularly when they are brand new, until the diffusing habit kicks in and there’s less focus.  Perhaps this is part of why my eyes have gotten worse and worse.

I placed my prescription glasses into a eyeglass case and set them into the healthbox in my bedstand.  It’s the box where I keep my medications, allergy masks, and wrist guards.  And now it holds my prescription glasses.  At least until I have to drive again.

My Pinhole’s Have Arrived

My pinhole glasses just came in this afternoon.  Like about 10 minutes or less ago, heheheh.  They are a bit bigger than I had thought they might be.  But not in a bad way.  They are more solid than I had thought they would be, not that flimsy plastic frames you get at the $1.00 store.  They aren’t heavy either.  Basically, along the lines of the same feel as a decent pair of sunglasses.  They fit my face well, not much pressure except for a tiny bit at the very tip of the ear piece.  Initially there is a kind of bug effect, I think they call it a honeycomb effect.  But if left on for a couple of minutes, you start to not notice it.  It definitely forces your mind into more of a focusing mentality rather than a diffusing mentality.  If you’re not used to looking at details of things, and just getting an overall view of it, these glasses alter that while you are wearing them.  At least so far.  The difference is clear enough to notice initially, but will it have the same effect in a day? week? month? longer?  I dunno, but I shall find out.  I think, however, that these will only be worn for when I actually need to get detail or to focus my eyes/mind more.

Without my glasses I have to increase the browser page font size to largest in order to get a glimpse of the letters, and still have to bring the computer in closer to me so I can actually read the letters.  With the pinhole glasses, I’m able to comfortably read at a font of large, but can also read at fonts medium and smaller, but not comfortably.  It’ll be a while and a LOT of patience to be able to read smallest without strain.  And of course, with prescripted lenses, I can see them all without straining TO see, but not with comfort either…as if it’s too strong for that close of work.

I found my book “Relearning to See:  Improve Your Eyesight Naturally” by Thomas R. Quackenbush (what a name, huh).  It’s a thick book 521 pages including an index.  Lots of information, and maybe a bit of hoke.  It’s been a few years since I’ve read it.  As I have time, I might reread parts of it.  I can’t find my notes which means they are probably in one of many boxes with a large amount of unsorted papers.  Most of what I remember from it was “Sketch, Breathe, Blink”.  Breathe and Blink were relaxation techniques and reminders not to squint nor strain to hold an image still.  Sketch was a reminder to not try to see the whole image, but to look at parts of it and let the mind combine it into a whole.  I seem to remember something about centralization vs diffusion vs peripheral.  But I don’t remember anything specific about them.  Just enough to know that most of my vision has been achieved via diffusion and peripheral, and virtually nil on centralization.  But, oh my, these pinholes are demanding that I centralize instead of diffuse.  If I diffuse, I see the holes, if I centralize, I’m able to see beyond the holes.

I intend to keep things updated here on how/if they work for me.  And sometime in the next couple of days I will photocopy a couple of eyecharts I have and take a “reading” with naked eyes and a reading with pinhole covered eyes.  I don’t know if I will include prescription glasses readings though cuz, well, that would mean I’d have to put them on and see through them, and I actually want to see if I can get along without them (except for driving).

Ok, off to get some work done, maybe, heheheh.