&quot;People assume it must be like closing your eyes or being in a dark room, but it&#x27;s not like that at all. It&#x27;s a complete absence of light, it isn&#x27;t black or any other colour I can describe.<p>&quot;Instead my mind gives me things to look at. It shows me a shadowy representation of what it thinks I should see - like my hands holding a cup of tea. Since my mind is constrained only by my imagination, it rather charmingly overlays everything with millions of tiny sparkles of light, that vary in brightness and intensity depending on my emotional state.&quot;<p>Great article; very informative, about the physiological and emotional effects of advanced diabetic retinopathy. Really connected, for me, especially her description of the transition into blindness--from grief to eventual acceptance.