Talking about "The Blindfold" (Patreon)

I wanted to talk about the re-naming of the Wasteland-Saliatos-Barber-TakeOfftheBlindfold-Cone Layer series to "The Blindfold"

In December of 2007, I had an intense dream. 

At the time, there was a lot of confusing stuff happening in my life, it felt like I was getting torn into pieces. Whenever I wasn't distracted, I found myself alone with my thoughts, which had become increasingly despaired and upset. For years at this point, starting sometime in 2003-2004, I had been dealing with increasingly intense disassociation and depression. I remember in the car, on my way to class during my first week of second semester of first grade in January 2005, looking out the window at the passing landscapes, realizing I literally couldn't remember anything. Everything in my life felt increasingly heavy, foggy and scary. 

Anyway, back to the dream- I'm lying on my back, on the way to falling asleep, and suddenly a giant eye comes down from the ceiling. I hear screaming all around me, and intense music. 

Then, I hear someone say the following:

"You need to pay attention,

You need to look around you,

But first you need to take off your blindfold!"

Then it showed me a distinct image of a room I had been in before, but had completely forgotten. 

And then everything stopped. It was completely quiet in my room. 

I was deeply scared this would happen to me again for the next few nights. For some reason, I knew whatever that experience was, it was important, but I wasn't ready for it yet. So, as precaution, I prayed that whatever that was, it would only come back when I was ready. For a long time, I didn't have any more experiences like that after that, but I spent the next 13 years sleeping on my stomach, afraid that it would happen again. Even after I became an atheist, as a precaution, I would sleep on my stomach, just so I wouldn't be facing the ceiling. 

In April 2020, I was ready, and it came back. Slowly and steadily I've been trying my best to take off my blindfold. For the past few years, I've been making incremental progress, trying to free myself from the fog, and see clearly for the first time. 

I decided to rename the series to the The Blindfold, because I think the whole series represents the internal struggle of trying to take the blindfold off, and what has been happening to me since I have.

Take off the Blindfold

Adjust Your Eyes

Look in the Mirror

See the Face of Your Mother