I will hereby punctuate the Grow Journal with a bit of entertainment for those with too much time on their hands... I call this:
"World Within - Looking Within"
The annals of history suggest that sometime in September of 1608 a new toy was put up for sale at the annual Frankfurt fair. This curious tube-like device enabled a person to see things much further away than a person could see with the naked eye and could be rearranged in order to view very small things as well, in the manner of a microscope. "For the first time in human history the observable universe suddenly expanded, not just once or twice but a hundredfold. It made visible new realms in outer space and inside ourselves ..." (Worlds Within Worlds, 1977) You cant believe everything that you read, however, and history is always being rewritten.
Not long ago I had an unusually severe migraine headache that lasted for three days. I could not eat or keep down water. I spent many hours with my head resting in my hands. When I began to recover I came across a few interesting new ways of looking at the world. One of these knacks seems fairly benign and user-friendly, testing its validity will be simple enough.
Ten to fifteen years ago the latest rage at lava lamp stores was a new type of fandangled poster. Persons would stand in front of these posters for five minutes or even longer in an attempt to pick out the 3D image superimposed over the original photograph. Though a person couldnt always be successful, when you finally did arrive at the superimposed image there was an "Aha!" moment - and no doubt as to the content that had remained elusive for so long. Very few persons do not trust their own eyes. For this reason, I tend to believe that our beliefs choose us more often than we choose our beliefs. I would like to give you a free poster. And if youre doing it right, it wont take five minutes to see whats hidden inside.
Sit at a table in a brightly lit room, florescent lighting may be more helpful than sunlight. Slump down a bit with your elbows on the table, such that you can comfortably rest with your face in the palm of your hands. Cup one hand over the other, close your eyes and rest your index fingers against your lower forehead. Face the light with your eyes closed and be mindful of keeping your pupils facing straight ahead, then gently place the back of a thumbnail over each pupil. Apply slight pressure to the pupil that you will try to "see out of". Keeping your eyes closed, begin looking for any bit of movement or color that you can see. Dont go poking your eyes out, but if you arent having much luck, then try adjusting the amount of pressure slightly. If youve accomplished nothing after 30-60 seconds of this, then try "seeing" with the other eye (being mindful that the pupils face the thumb nail and havent rolled back into your head). The first sign of success may appear to be small pricks of color evenly spaced. Attempt to zoom in or focus on these. When you see any sort of movement or color the task is to see more deeply. Once you have something in view do not be surprised to find that the light illuminating it seems to shift from yellow to green to blue in a sort of wave that draws into your point of focus. When this isnt happening, things will generally appear in their natural colors; clear, pink, red and darker pigments. It may be that the thumbnail forces the iris into a concave curvature such that the eye becomes a natural microscope.
"Most startling to those who think of themselves as unique individuals is the view scientific photography gives us of ourselves. A microworld exists inside us. Indeed, it -is- us. (...) Within this privileged environment millions of organisms live, reproduce and die. Like their prototypes in (the sea), they develeop hierarchies of mutual aid, mark their territories and repel invaders. They go about cleaning our lungs, filtering our blood supply and fighting our diseases without our ever being aware of them." (Worlds Within Worlds, 1977)
So... Ive got my eyes closed and Im looking at this small, apparently single celled, organism. It looks kind of like a translucent flea with a couple dark spots: one in the body and another one in what appears to be its head. It also has a couple of appendages, perhaps cilia or flagella, though they appear to be of a harder make and possibly even segmented. It is surrounded by red blood cells. I can see maybe five clearly to each side of it, after that my vision begins to blur. What is most apparent to me is that this little guy obviously has a mind of its own. It is clearly moving around of its own volition, at a speed and direction of its own choosing. It bumps into the red blood cells and jostles them around. Then I find myself thinking, "Is this the Good Guy or the Bad Guy? Maybe I shouldnt be cheering him on!" You might come across macrophages gobbling up garbage, blood cells, the river that carries these cells along, the currents in the river itself, and tissues. One hundred and one different organisms, structures, and interactions. A vast colony of self-sentient life, such that it may boggle your mind to believe that these cells are working together (harmoniously for the most part) inside of you. I cannot say for certain exactly what is within view of this living microscopic vision. I can only imagine that the view is within some part of the eyeball itself. I would guess that a person using this technique may achieve magnification from 10x to 1000x. Are you ready for the "lava lamp store" crazy poster challenge?
Wether or not you are successful, please do not attempt to do this more than three times in a two week period of time. It places a great strain on the eyes and the slight pressure from the thumbnail may certainly cause bruising to an organ as sensitive as the eye must be. And so, while it may not be a good hobby or pastime, those that are successful will find the view amazing none-the-less. I can only imagine the effect that this has had on the psyche of mankind across the ages. Certainly others have experienced this phenomena accidently or perhaps when coming awake from dreams. Curiously, the artist Dali chose to sleep in a room intensely lit and referred to his works of art as hand-painted dream photographs. He said that the lights were used to better illuminate his dreams and to make them more intense. Perhaps someone will paint what this new organic microscope has revealed to them. Im afraid that I am not much of an artist.
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