People who can hear commonly assume that they listen but, although related, hearing and listening are two different activities. As so often happens, something had to be taken away from me before I seriously contemplated what I have and what I lack. I’m a visual learner—spoken words slip off my mind while written words have a greater chance of sinking in—but I didn’t realize just how much I favor my eyes over my ears until I had a long bout of viral conjuctivitus. I thought the swollen, itchy, oozy stage was the worst part, until my vision became clouded. Now that I can barely read or write and it’s tiresome to observe the world around me or to look at anything on a screen, I realize that these make up the vast majority of my daily activities. (Click here for more of what I learned)

If you're curious about this malady, scroll down.


If you're more on the squeamish side, scroll up, now, quickly.