Screen Ache

I stare at screens too much and I have a headache. Actually it's more like eye ache, but the two are often bound up together for me (I also get ferocious migraines, which feature eyeballs apparently puffing out to twice their normal size, thereby putting out a major strain on the whole head area).

Our eyes were designed to look at solid objects, not a bunch of flashy pixels which need to be interpreted. The more we get used to looking at virtual pictures and onscreen objects, the more we lose touch with reality. But we do it more and more. Computers at work, computers at home. TV/DVD/mobile phones. We strip all life out of the real world, and cultivate digital worlds full of verdure and dramatic landscapes. We yearn for a nice planet, so we create it. When CS Lewis talked about kids and wardrobes, he wasn't far wrong.

You know what he should do? We should all go and look at something real and solid. Like a tree.

Here ya go.