Manifold of Me (a self portrait)

If you want some notes/insight, here are some drafted below. Skip them if this piece speaks to you – you may find your own meaning and you don’t need mine.

Manifold of Me (a self portrait)
image of person's head with top off and crows flying out on the left. background is at the beach with piano keys extending to a vanishing point on the ground and a road meeting them from the sky. A person flies a klienbottle as a kite with crows on the inside.

If you want some notes/insight, here are some drafted below. Skip them if this piece speaks to you – you may find your own meaning and you don’t need mine.

Scant Notes:

  • My ear is censored black with a Möbius ring (tinnitus from a TBI – I haven’t heard silence for decades).
  • My hand is in the position in which I take pictures rather than that of holding a kite – this is how you will find me (often capturing crows).
  • After my first head trauma, piano was my peace. After my second, I can’t play. It is devastating – the keys aren’t pressed. However – there is a lot of hope. I have started learning classical guitar (which does not trigger my ear to be louder). It will take time, but music will fill my soul through my fingers again.
  • The road is empty for many reasons including my loss of being able to drive more than a few miles due to the second TBI. It is also empty as a symbol of contentment – There is an entire universe in a mind, in a day, in a moment.
  • The Klein bottle is boundless, möbius, and non-orientable – aren’t we all?
  • The crows symbolize more than I can post. They are around me, from me, and of me. They are thoughts, contemplations, and complete stillness in this piece. One holds an arrow for orientation(direction) in the Klein bottle. Birding brings me peace and joy.
  • The waves are both past and future and present. Each wave is the same ocean – coming, staying, going.
  • Math is a window for me, a way to be present, a passion
  • These are just a few of what was going through my mind as I worked on this.