The joy of blinking

I've now watched Big Brother for so many years that I am starting to experience nostalgia for what seem like the glory days of the show. Compared to the current bunch, Helen from series two came across rather well and, in particular, her romance with Paul (they are still together as far as I know) was refreshingly innocent, without her having to put a bottle up anywhere. What is more, she came up with the wonderful line "I like blinking, me," surely the greatest single piece of dialogue in what must now be well over a year of footage.

I have had cause to ponder Helen's wise words recently, because of an eye infection that has stubbornly refused to go away since it began in April. I am experiencing a number of problems with doctors (the subject of a future post no doubt) so I have been looking around on the internet to find out what I might be doing wrong. I have long since abandoned my contact lenses, so it must be more than that and, yes, I know I spend too much time in front of the computer, but my eyes can't be that sensitive, surely?

Now I think I have discovered the solution - I am not blinking enough. It is not just looking at the computer screen (and the TV) that is the cause, it is the fact that I never break my gaze. Therefore, I have, quite genuinely, been practising this subtle art. Every time I find myself staring, I start blinking and, when I take my screen breaks, I experiment with different ways of doing it. I blink slowly, I blink rapidly to create a strobe effect (not recommended for people with epilepsy) and I relax, exercise my eyelids and try to allow my seemingly non-existent blink reflex to take over.

It remains to be seen whether all this will actually help to diminish the infection. If not, I hope that I will discover many other exciting benefits of blinking. Hopefully, it will help me to relax more, will improve my eye contact when meeting people and just think of all the calories I will shed by exercising my facial muscles! In the meantime, I can't believe that I have just written four paragraphs on the subject of blinking, without much repitition although with some deviation.