Light in Darkness

Disability, that’s what being blind, is categorized as. Yet just for that 15 minutes of not seeing showed me a whole different view of life. Not being able to see made me use my other four main senses and my sixth sense. At first it was hard, the urge to open my eyes was constantly ringing in my head. After a few seconds, I realized that the world isn’t all about seeing things. I heard a lot of noises that I wouldn’t have noticed at a normal rate, like the sound of the birds chirping, water splashing on the floor and even the sound of different footsteps.

Besides just hearing, the sense I used the most was the sense of touch. The one thing I noticed is that I depended a lot on my touch. I reach out to the open a lot as I find that touching things would make me feel safer and not so blind. I used my touch senses to use to elevator by sensing the buttons and memories. At the same time, I used my ‘sixth sense’ that helped me with the feeling of danger of an object in front of you, the distance of the steps after the next step and the bump in front of you.

Being blind also shows the importance of smell. I personally find that my sense of smell initiated where I was like the smell of Wendy’s just made burgers or the perfume a friend wears. Smell has more of an acknowledgement of things more than sight in my point of view. You may see things to look as something but when you smell it, it can show something else too. I could guess who’s who by the scent of their perfume or the scent of their shoes and clothes.

It is a really scary experience being blind. It’s as if your life is full of darkness. The whispers you hear when others see you walk by, the constant critique and jokes of your condition but in reality, you are still a human. I actually find that being blind has its very many opportunities as much as being a normal person. I have yet to try the sense of taste but from how it seems, I bet a blind person can taste and guess a food without even looking at it.

I find looking down on a blind person is a really unethical thing to do because there are more to them than a normal person as they appreciate the other senses and the extra beauties in life. Sitting in the mamak and listening to the sounds around you actually gives a strong sense of calamity and warmness compared to seeing the causes of the sounds.

Yet, I’m glad to have all my senses working as it should and from this activity I have learned the appreciation towards my other senses.

Mei Xin DMC 13