I recently posted a video on how I was recently (“Recent” meaning last year) diagnosed with Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy… it’s a mouthful to say but it gets easier to say when you break it down. At any rate, Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy is a disorder of the nervous system which affects my balance and coordination. Which, on the plus side, means I’m not gonna die… at least not from Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy… I can still get hit by a bus or something but it most likely won’t be from this issue.
For me, having Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy means that I don’t really get to be all that I wanted to be. My movements are slow and if I try to pick up the pace, I tend to lose my balance. Any slope out there, I can feel… and it throws me off… I can’t step off curbs without triple checking where the street is. It doesn’t really seem to have affected my driving… or maybe it has and that’s just how I’ve always driven so I just don’t notice… either way, I don’t think I’m a terrible driver or anything. I’m always worried about how I’m perceived at driving and I always seem to be driving too slow, even though I tend to go the speed limit and people fly past me.
What crushes me most of all is that I can’t be the person I hoped to be. I always wanted to go off the beaten path and explore… now I know I’ll just fall… and I won’t enjoy that. I had really thought I’d find work along the way but I rarely did before my diagnosis and now in good conscience… I won’t say I have no options… but I can’t work at a reasonable pace for anyone!
And, of course, there is the Love issue. I was so looking forward to falling in Love and being able to have my own family… and I can’t entirely blame it on my Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy… I wasn’t well on my way to any meaningful romantic connection in my life. Now… I don’t really have a choice. Yes, I am still capable of feeling Love and physically everything works… but it isn’t just about that… building a life with someone is a lot more than saying “I Love You”… it’s being able to be the person that you are needed to be by those that need you. The mind is willing but the flesh is weak… and I have to live in a world where that’s my truth.
At least it means I’m not infecting any lives, right?
But how does this all relate to AI? Especially as it pertains to art? Well, I’ve been an artist for… well… I guess my entire life. Not all art is a visual image rendered in 2D though… which means I’ve dabbled in poetry, computer design, audio design, designs for merchandise, performance art including improv, theatrical and musical and I even got a B.A. in Film all of which can be created with AI… and a creative operator to imagine such things. That is why I’m building this site… there are still a lot of things to be decided about Artificial Intelligence… but there is good to come from it all. I look forward to showing you the way!
