I can see.

Just a little. A small section at the top of my eye. Through the peripheral vision of my left eye.

Did not notice it until after getting my glasses fixed and was able to “see” with a corrective lens out of the eye that surgeons had operated upon Jan. 22, 2010, some eight days ago. I’ve worn contact lenses immediately before and after that. Well, one contact lens. In the good eye. The right eye.

It wasn’t until yesterday when I got my spectacles fixed that I was able to look through a corrective lens to see anything. Dr. Marc Myers, the optometrist at the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center in Coatesville, PA, made a notation in his medical notes that his patient could see raised fingers from some four feet away. It was one small step for my eye, a giant leap for my vision.

Having a detached retina, I feel there is a round dark beige curtain-like object placed over my left eye. That curtain was “lowered” as a result of a two-hour operation last week at the VA  Hospital in Philadelphia, and is now getting smaller. Dr. Ali Zeidi, who operated during the surgery, said the substance is covering some 60 percent of the eye, mostly in the center, and bottom center. But I couldn’t notice it three days ago when he first told me. 

This so-called curtain is made up of  liquid. A portion of which is from the actual substance of the eye. The part that’s covering my “vision” was displaced when the retina became “detached.” It will eventually “disolve” or be pushed back into place as a gas “bubble” inserted in my eye continues to  flatten out the liquid,  just like you flatten out moisture behind wall paper as you spread the paper with a squeegee or a brush to remove and smooth out air pockets. You use the same pressure to manipulate the retina back in place, according to eye specialists I have spoken with the past several weeks.

The liquid “wiggles.” It “bounces.” Moves a little like Jello. And I have come to belief in Quantum Physics more and more as I see the constant movement in, and as part of, my eye every second. Perhaps, every millisecond. The liquid appears to “move” when my heart beats. The question is, which is actually moving? The liquid or the body? When your heart is beating, does the liquid in the veins pumping blood actually move, or is it the more “solid” portions of the body moving, ie, the walls of the vein itself?

I don’t know. But it is so cool to watch the liquid in the eye and to wonder about it. How often does a person who meditates get a chance to focus on the “movement” while trying to still his body and mind. One can not still the body — it is in constant flux, according to the latest scientific evidence. But, meditation can “still” the mind, and help you appreciate the tremendous joy there is in every solitary moment.