"Brighter Than a Cloud"
"How to describe a scintillating scotoma? It’s one of the most common symptoms of a migraine, but unless you’ve had one, it sounds unreal. A scintillating scotoma is like a barbed ripple in the pool of sight. It’s a skeletal Magic Eye raised up from the flatness of the world. It’s a glare on the tarmac as you drive West at sunset on a rain-slick freeway—only when you turn your head, it’s still there, so you have to pull over, close your eyes, and wait out the slow-motion firework working its way across your brain."
I've suffered from migraines for as long as I can remember, literally. They were more severe when I was younger, reliably knocking me out of action for hours at a time, always ending with a vomiting attack. These days, the pain is less severe, and I no longer vomit, but the "aura"—a word sufferers frequently use to describe the "scintillating scotoma" Evans writes about in her article—is still there, warning me the headache is coming.
I liked the featured artwork from sufferers depicting their auras in the article, and found the writing itself to have more flourish than any other I've read on the subject, so I recommend checking it out.
Brighter Than a Cloud
How to describe a scintillating scotoma?