Artist’s Statement:

I cut a sheet of paper in half and taped it together but we’ve got a gap. What you’ve got is the dark side with MS and me with the yellow, the white, the sunshine on the other side. Though the gap keeps the darkness away from me, it crosses and moves into the ME, into the sunshine. That’s the way I feel. My life was very normal, a happy life, wife, child, dog but then the MS kind of crossed over. I try to keep the yellow, the sunny disposition. I think I’m a good person, good personality, light and cheerful, but the darkness weighs me down and breaks the normalcy. We still have light; it’s not as dark as the MS side. It could be worse but just because something could be worse doesn’t mean it isn’t bad. I’m trying to be optimistic, I can still walk my dog, I can get outside, I can make my breakfast and lunch, and my wife makes dinner. I can still do that stuff. I don’t know what life would be like if that was taken away from me. I honestly don’t know. I don’t do as much as some people I know to fight it off but I walk every day, get out and eat healthy. I’m doing what I can to ward off the worst effects of the MS so the yellow is me trying to be physically engaged, intellectually engaged and just engaged in life.

Bio:

Paul Lima has had MS for 22 years. He writes about it and videblogs about it, and you can find him online at paullima.com