A Challenge - Blind for a Day

[Twyrch]

When I was in High School, we had a guest speaker who was born blind, but he didn't consider it a disability... instead, he focused on the positive aspects such as the enhancement of his other senses.

I chose to try this, voluntarily, when I got home. I figured that the best way to truly understand a person, was to live their life for a day. As the saying goes, "don't judge a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes". It was difficult at first, as I kept bumping into things, and I found I couldn't keep it up all day... it drove me insane not to be able to see things. However, I kept it up in the evenings, as I would find my way to bed. My eyes are sensitive to light anyway, so I found it useful when trying to find the bathroom at night, or when I woke up and not have to turn the light on.

Soon, I was able to not only find my way to bed, but get dressed for bed and in the morning, brush my teeth, shower and shave with my eyes closed. I learned to "see" the house in my mind's eye and to use my other senses to find my way around. I know the contour of my own face perfectly now. Later, a friend of mine's parents had to have an eye surgery and both of them went blind from it, and really did have to learn how to live life in the dark.

I realized that we're never promised sight for the rest of our lives and it's a gift that could go away at any time by a freak accident, or a fatal surgery. I also found that by simply closing my eyes, I was more attuned to the world around me. Outside, the smells and sounds seemed to be magnified and by walking barefoot, my sense of touch in my hands and feet told me more about the world around me than sight ever could.

Today, when it's time to go to bed, I still close my eyes, walk up the stairs, get ready for bed, set the alarm and fall asleep without the benefit of sight. In the mornings, I enjoy getting ready in the dark... shaving, brushing my teeth, showering... it's such a blessing to not have to subject my eyes to the bright light so early in the morning.

My challenge to you is to try this at home some time. See how well you can do, but don't feel frustrated or sad if you can't do it for long. To some, it comes naturally... to others, like me, it took a great deal of practice. I started this practice about 17 years ago. Have fun with it, but also remember why you are doing it... you never know which day will be your last to see the world as you do now, and by allowing yourself to experience occasionally darkness, you will open up your senses and your mind to the world around you in ways you have never dreamed possible before.

Blessings,

Twyrch

[Mafalda]

Hello Twyrch,

That is really a good and in many ways a therapeutical challenge... Like you said maybe not for many but definitly for some. I was always afraid of the dark, and in moments that I needed to be with my eyes closed or in a dark room I panic... fear... When something is controled by us, like this exercice, we start to see differently.

I am afraid of loosing it, or to see myself in a place where I cannot see... this is an approach that I never thought about, and it would help me in many ways if I start doing it, because what moves me is fear... of what I cannot see... But what I never thought was, if I do it, the magnitude of what I could actually "see".

Since we do not have to think about not to see in our daily lives we have no idea what we can actually feel or react when we are confronted by it. This exercice ressonates much with me... on what I could do to face my fear, not been able to see to actually realize that I can see in many other ways.

BB
Mafalda

[Twyrch]

Mafalda,

I hope you found the exercise therapeutic. Please let us know some of your experiences.

Has anyone else tried this exercise?

[Florian]

Greetings,

I will definitely try this exercise during the next weeks whenever I can.
One question: Did you also do this exercise outdoors and if yes, what were your experiences doin this in the "unknown wild"?

[Badger Bob]

I went blind for a while after a head injury, fortunately I regained most of my sight within a few months. It was horrible at first, I had to keep every noise to a minimum; the TV, the radio, any music had to be quiet enough for me to hear people around me or I felt isolated and became withdrawn. Stairs were my biggest fear, finding the top and bottom step frequently resulted in a stumble. Cooking was a challenge, I can still feel fairly suble temperature changes from getting too near the hob. Gas rings were easier to use than electric as the hiss of the gas helps you to locate the pan without getting your hands too near.

It isn't an experience I enjoyed much but I think I could have coped if it had turned out to be permanent.

[Tyriell_Whisperwind]

I forget where but there is a restaurant here in the states that runs entirely off this concept, you walk into a completely black room no lights or windows and are served the entire meal in utter darkness, the entire waitstaff is blind and you really get the sense of how these people live everyday. i havent had the pleasure of going yet but id love to try it.

[Twyrch]

Greetings,

I will definitely try this exercise during the next weeks whenever I can.
One question: Did you also do this exercise outdoors and if yes, what were your experiences doin this in the "unknown wild"?

Yes, I did this exercise outdoors and it was very strange and unfamiliar. My senses were heightened, as I had to rely on smell, sound and touch, but touch came out the most. I walked barefoot and could feel the imperfections in the ground... the grass, sand and/or gravel between my toes, depending on where I traveled. Touching the trees also brought about a unique perspective, as I had to use my mind's eye to imagine what they looked like just by the touch of my fingers.

In my house, I'm familiar with the objects and placements, for the most part and can find my way around by counting steps and feeling with my hands, however, when outdoors, all those conveniences go out the window and you're left with your senses and imagination.

[Wraithian]

Little late to the party here, as usual, but I'll add a bit...

I, much like Badger Bob, was blind for a while, due to injury. I hadn't much of a problem meandering around the house, or even the limits of my own home, it was out in public I had issues. For one, I don't like people's attention, and walking around in public for a while with my eyes bandaged was not cool. I knew, even though I couldn't see them, people were staring at me. That, and I hate pity. When you lose one sense, the others heighten, you pay more attention to them, and I could hear people, "oh, that poor guy," stuff like that. But yeah, walking around a department store (I did have help, but pride is my weakness--I refused to ride in a cart/wheelchair--I walked), hearing people around you, uncertain where to step without running into stuff or people, not a fun experience.

It wasn't until that experience that I realized that I am a very visual person. Most of my hobbies simply cannot be done without sight, for example, and I gained an entirely new respect for those without sight.

[EagleWolf]

That sounds like it would be very interesting! That restaurant also sounds like a fun place to visit...I wonder if one could find it doing a google search? I'll see what I can come up with.

When I took American Sign Language in High School I had the pleasure of going "deaf" for a day. We put ear plugs in our ears and all of our teachers gave us permission to be deaf. I found it was very interesting to hear all the internal body sounds that we don't pay attention to. For instance, I was able to hear my pulse a lot. Of course there were some lessons we had to remove them for, but the experience was fun and exciting. If it weren't for work I'd think about doing it again.

EagleWolf

[Edana-Rona]

I did that exercise, but not by choice. I was hit in the eyes with road ice in the middle of winter. We are very poor right now, so we didn't have enough money to see that doctor. I had to have my eyes covered for many days so that my eyes could heal. It was amazing how well I actually knew my house; from how many steps there were on the stairs, to how many paces it was from room to room. I was able to move around fairly comfortably, helped with my hearing, which is unusually good. It really made me think about how much of a challenge people without sight have.

[Tyriell_Whisperwind]

positive and healing energies to you Edana

[Edana-Rona]

positive and healing energies to you Edana

Thank you so much Tyriell, and the same to you. It is almost healed now, I just can't wear my contacts, and I am more sensitive to bright lights.

[Tyriell_Whisperwind]

glad to hear about your recovery

[Edana-Rona]

Thank you Tiriel!

[terrencevak]

Hello everyone! I'm two months late to this thread, but being blind since birth, it caught my eye. The restaurant experience you're thinking of is "Dining in the Dark", and I think they have that somewhere in northern California.
Though I am blind, I do have some vision. I haven't done exactly the challenge you all have taken on, but I have had a related experience. I am the computer and Braille instructor at the only training center for blind adults here in Alaska, and one of the first things I was involved in when I first took the job 3 years ago was a training we put on for rehabilitation counselors to help them understand why we bring clients in for as long as we do, and why we need more time than we're given to *REALLY* give them the skills they need. At the end of the training, we had a lunch with blindfolds available. For some odd reason, I felt inclined to do this myself...and realized just how much I depend on the vision I have. I read Braille. I do many things by touch and hearing. But taking away the vision I had really gave me a new appreciation of it and how much I depend on it. I have since thought that I might someday try the experiment that you all have done, to gain a better understanding of the perspective of clients with even less sight than I have.

May peace be with you all,
Terrence

[kashi_light]

Twyrch, thank you so much for offering this challenge! I tried it this morning from about 4am to 8am, and it was a very powerful experience. The first thing I noticed was the great increase in my senses (except for sight) within moments, which continued to get more acute as time went on. I went around trying to do the things I normally would do and found it very difficult and awkward. Soon I was very tense and stressed and had to lie down for a break. Then it hit me - what do I do? Almost everything I do is based on vision. Later I tried playing my bass guitar, and I found that a whole new area of my brain was required to play. At first I couldnt play very well, but soon I noticed my ability to play solely by ear was increased dramatically. When the sun started coming up I decided to go for a walk and became miserably lost, but I was determined not to cut the practice short. After almost an hour of that, I experienced a shift and realized that I was totally comfortable without my eyes, even being lost (though only a few hundred feet from home). The experience became very beautiful and enjoyable and eventually I made it back home. I rewarded my self by making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, on which I had to use my fingers to spread the goods with because I couldnt feel through the knife too well haha. I took my blindfold off turned towards the horizon (thankfully the sun was still behind the trees ) and when I opened my eyes, the world around me was so vivid and colorful. The experience was both uplifting and frightening, humbling and empowering, and is something that I plan on continuing regularly now. Thanks again for bringing this topic up, and thanks for everyone who replied! Edana, I hope you are fully recovered now! Sorry for the late reply, Im new here. Blessings All!

[reilz81]

well i use to hate getting shampoo in my eyes when i showered and at one place i lived it had a huge bathroom so i would practice doing everything with my eyes closed and it really opens up another world that was my experience anyway after the blackness in the beginning i could only tell where the light was coming from but the more i did it the more i saw i guess with my minds eye cause it was hazy but i could kind of make out objects with my eyes closed i still do it from time to time and that third eye seeing comes in handy at night

[Donagh MacBran]

Sounds like a challange with great difficulty. Another one is being deaf for a day and then both. I think it wil highten the other senses and train the inner eyes and ears

[reilz81]

deaf is harder because even with ear plugs you still hear some things

[djinn]

Hi there, very interesting thread this is. Maybe the wrong place to put my reaction?

I am not blind, but I am half deaf and when I am very tired, ill or, umm, on occasion, drunk , the other ear stops working too. The deafness started when I got 21 years and has since not gone, but one adapts. Without my hearing-aid, I just am a total goof when trying to hear the direction and distance of the sound, quite annoying when in traffic. When I first got my hearing-aid, just the sound of my footsteps, or the door-keys, got me panicking because of the sudden noise that came from a completely different part of my brain that I was not accustomed to anymore.

Really my way to cope was to surrender to the fact and try to live my life with everything else I have left - which in my case is a LOT! Just the fact that people can't see that you don't hear everything is annoying. Having to interpret every sound with my - sometimes very lurid - imagination, makes conversations go astray and sometimes makes me react just a little slower, and makes me seem a little slower in the head too. While, obviously, I am brilliant
Another interesting side of this is that I seem to hear things that are not there. Overactive imagination, I guess, the so-called pre-emptive strike. AND the fact that my working ear is on a constant alert for anything. ANYTHING. Also during the night. Hence the nightly ear-plug and the timer on my bedside lamp in the morning.

Another bore is that I am literally working on batteries. Battery low? No sound on the right side, and me completely exhausted, panicking and done for within the hour. I am not able to speak normally within two hours.

Now, this is not intended to complain, for I live a very happy life, but maybe somebody else can get some recognition through this. I know I did, when simply reading a little pamphlet for the hearing-impaired, with all the little day-to-day problems described and recognised that for me are endless and daily, but never came to the surface untill that moment.

And, guys, for the record, when you put in ear-plugs, yes, you hear your breathing and your heart-beat very strongly. Embrace the noise! Or not! When you are deaf, there really is (at least for me) total silence.