Even A Little Light Quells the Darkness
Lost, confused, overwhelmed, and at times, hopeless, are feelings I’ve been experiencing on a frequent basis lately. I knew I was in trouble when the one thing I could always count on (this is a story for another day), now seemed so elusive.
Dealing with significant elder care issues while simultaneously trying to run an online business, blogging, managing four social media accounts, advocating, babysitting my grandson, and the resulting panic attacks has left me with little time to breathe. Even though I know better playing the comparison game with unrealistic expectations, only serves to magnify my confused state and FALSE ineptitude.
While a dark cloud of gloom has settled for the time being, whenever a ray of light comes my way I grab hold and let it seep into my being to fuel and propel me forward. Case in point, I hadn’t planned on writing today and was surprised when a ray of light presented itself as a reminder of who I am through the work of another.
Blind Motherhood Rebirth
Holly Bonner, the woman behind Blind Motherhood, has worked tirelessly to refresh this comprehensive resource for parents, families, and individuals living with sight loss. The thing that gets me is—over the past few months Holly recreated Blind Motherhood, continued working for her employer, authored many pieces for several organizations, took care of her husband and their two little girls—she did all of this while dealing with illness.
Nuala, Holly and Aoife
Like Holly, Blind Motherhood is striking, professional and extremely organized. The theme suits her well because it represents Holly’s creative genius and her life as a blind mom. Though it doesn’t take much to excite me I just had to list, then go into a little more detail on my favorite highlights on the site:
- Consistent Branding
- Aesthetically Pleasing
- Homey Theme
- Ease of Navigation
- Thorough Content
Branding: The Blind Motherhood logo—a silhouette of a mom with white cane leading the way in her left hand and her two toddlers bringing up the rear (mom’s right hand holding the hand of the oldest child who in turn is holding the hand of the youngest)—is uniquely Holly. Shades of teal as an accent color is used consistently throughout the site and on social media platforms.
Aesthetics: All the images on the site are high quality, interesting and invite visitors to stay awhile and explore, while the layout, fonts, contrast and color scheme makes the text easy to read. The “About” menu is next to the Home menu so there is no guesswork in determining the “why” of the site. A site without an “About” section misses out on a critical trust-building opportunity.
Theme: Contrasting textures of fringed fabric, wooden plank and painted/weathered wood evoke an inviting feeling of home.
Navigation: The main menu consisting of Home, About, Motherhood, Blind Diaries, Resources and Contact is intuitively organized and contain well structured submenus.
Content: Blind Motherhood has well written articles and thought-provoking content as well as links to other helpful resources. From pregnancy through the stages of childhood to guide dogs, humor, reviews, recipes, inspirational stories, accessibility and much more, there is something for just everyone.
Wrap up
At the beginning of this post I talked about feeling lost mainly because of the chaos in my mind and unrealistic expectations. Thankfully Holly’s fabulous website reminded me of my appreciation of talent, order, aesthetics and advocacy.
One of the things that really excited me about Blind Motherhood is knowing the concept was from a person who has very little remaining vision. This one point is testimony to while an individual may not be able to physically see they can be creative and appreciate beauty.
What Holly has done here is what Bold Blind Beauty is all about – changing perceptions. Each of us are uniquely gifted individuals; as long as we are authentic in our pursuits, and focus on our abilities we can and should joyously celebrate the achievements of others.