Real Beauty Transcends Barriers
A little something I found in my archives but never posted. ~Steph
Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness was an all-consuming, suffocating darkness.- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness meant using a white cane.
- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness was the worst thing that could happen to a person.
- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness would prevent me from working or participating in community service.
- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness meant life as I knew it would cease to exist.
- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness meant I couldn’t enjoy entertainment like books, tv or movies.
- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness would change how I interact with friends and family.
- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness meant living a solitary life.
- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness meant I wouldn’t be able to cook, clean or care for myself.
- Prior to losing my sight, I used to think blindness would mean the end of laughter, beauty, and the things that bring me joy.
All the things I thought I knew about blindness were wrong.
Since the loss of my sight, I’ve learned so much about myself, others, and life in general. For several years I’ve maintained that I am the same person today as I was when I began my journey into blindness but this really isn’t true.
I have changed because to remain the same means I’ve not grown. Life is bigger than me and you, life is bigger than blindness. If I could extend my arms from one end of the galaxy to the other I still would not be able to contain life.
Life is beautiful. With each new day, we have an opportunity to live our life to the best of our ability. Beauty is all around us and we can experience it in a myriad of ways.
Blindness is not the barrier; there is always a way. The barriers each of us have to overcome are our biases; we all have them. Sometimes we have to go through some stuff in order to come face to face with our own biases.
If I had to choose one thing blindness has taught me it would be I have a greater appreciation for life. Life doesn’t change but it can change us if we let it.