Jasiri

For those of you who are contact lens wearers and currently (or at any time) use Bausch and Lomb’s Renu with MoistureLoc products, please discontinue using them now. Two days ago, my sister came home and told me that the daughter of one of her clients had recently experienced eye problems. Apparently the daughter wears contacts and uses Renu with MoistureLoc cleanser–the same brand that I use. The CDC has “received reports of 109 cases of suspected fungal keratitis in 17 different states.” Read more here.

Now I’ve been using this particular brand for close to two years, and I was terrified when I learned of this information. At my last doctor’s visit, I complained to my doctor that my vision seemed slightly blurry and my left eye never felt comfortable when I wore my lenses. He reasurred me everything was fine, told me some generic statement like, “just make sure you clean your lenses thoroughly,” and shooed me out the door. You know, what many doctors do these days. It is recommended that you discontinue use of the product(s) and contact your eye doctor. My question is, now that Bausch and Lomb has officially released a statement about the possible infections, are they willing to pay for user’s opthamologist visits? I just had my annual visit in October, and for a person who is among the millions in this country without health insurance, this visit is going to cost a grip. I can’t afford that–I’m a struggling student. I’m going to find out more information because if the Renu Solution is in fact causing these infections, I think Bausch and Lomb should be responsible for paying for my visit.

down in the deep dark depths of despair i dwell,
cloaked in a curtain of fear,
and from where i stand these days look dim.

the future holds no resolution;
i look and i catch a glimpse of more dreary days,
bringing torrents of thunderous rain.
at times i feel ashamed of these depressing thoughts,
so a master of disguise i become to deceive those who hold expectations above my head,
and lately it has become a chore to pull my languid body out of bed.
because in my dreams, my wonderful dreams–
no longer dealing with decisions that could send me into damnation,
i reside in a dimension where there is no demand for perfection.
everything just IS!

and the law of relativity ceases to exist,
absolutism takes over and i become love, pure love.
i awake and i am drunk with this feeling of love.
but then sobriety set in and the esoteric realms vanish from my mind,
and i open my eyes,
but i become increasingly blind.

now i had my doubts about putting this pain on paper for fear of the expression you might display on your face,
but i know that you too, at times, feel doomed to compete in this perpetual rat race.
and there is still hope for me yet, i have not accepted defeat,
because i know that one day my dreams will become reality.
but right now i am in dire need of a drink of love, and a drop of happiness, and i feel like i’m drowning if i can’t be free.
so you see,
that is why i dream.

now i will leave you with these words as i drift,
into another dimension of pure bliss.

So I know this poem is depressing. I wrote it several years ago when I was in a very dark place in my life. I was experiencing what Iyanla Vanzant calls “a valley.” I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. I look at myself today and it’s hard to believe that I was ever that person who wrote this poem. So this is for all of those who believe it will never get better. Tomorrow’s a new day. Allow your metamorphosis to take place, even if it’s painful. The resulting transformation can be so beautiful.

*photo used under creative commons noncommercial 1.0 license

Thomas Friedman visited North Carolina A&T State University yesterday to lecture about his book, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. For those who have not read the book or were not able to attend, Friedman summarized the 10 forces that he believes flattened the world. They are as follows:

1. On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall, an iconic symbol of the Cold War, fell which led to German Reunification. “The walls came down and the windows came up.” Friedman stated. Metaphorically he described the “windows” as the Windows operating system. This was revolutionary because it meant we could now be authors of our own content in digital form.

2. 8/9/95-On this day Netscape went public, providing the first easy to install basically free web browser; this in turn brought the internet to the masses. This event brought the internet to life.

3. The Workflow Revolution which created inter-operable software.
The workflow revolution created new forms of collaboration, which make up numbers 4-10 of the forces that flattened the world. They are:

4. Outsourcing

5. Open-sourcing

6. Offshoring

7. Supply-chaining

8. Insourcing

9. Informing–what Friedman defines as “the ability to build and deploy your own personal supply chain — a supply chain of information, knowledge, and entertainment”(153).

10. Amplifying technologies or, “steroids” (i.e. wireless technology, file sharing, increased computer speed, etc.)

So what does all of this mean? Well there is one fact that cannot be denied–the economic playing field is being leveled. We, as individuals can globilize ourselves and compete with corporations. There is going to be a major paradigm shift. Globalization will no longer be built exclusively around white westerners; we’re shifting back to the level of the individual, the human being–big corporations will be forced to make way for us. Our voices will be heard, and changes will be made, or rather, are being made. The future is now–are you ready?