periphery vision

Human vision in the periphery is of lower resolution than the center field of view.

Interestingly however the periphery is better at night vision and capturing movement. The movment "catches" your eye, yet paradoxically when you turn you eye directly to it, it will vanish. So when hunting for something at night you're better off not looking straight at it, but to one side. You'll actually see it more clearly.

Somehow I've found the same is true in life when pondering things that are intangible. As Poe put it:

The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? 

And so it seems to me that by peering into that darkness we will see less than by looking obliquely at it while engaging with the motion of life.

Its like my examination of my memory of Anita ... when I try to look directly, I see the periphery. Yet when I am looking at the periphery suddenly I catch a glimpse of her and when I turn my attention, it is somehow obscure.