A Whole New World

I read an interesting article about a guy who learned to echolocate. I tried to imagine life as a blind person, focusing on my hearing as I walked through the trains of Hong Kong.

What a world I’ve been ignoring! I could distinguish footsteps, direction, distance. I could tell if someone was walking and shuffling their legs against a shopping bag. Obviously I’m no Daredevil, but it’s amazing how much of the world I’d been largely ignoring by focusing on my sight and, while in a meditative state, physical sensations.

It makes me wonder what new worlds would open up if I were to focus on other senses.

Read it: The Blind Man Who Taught Himself To See.

I’m grateful for:

1. My sense of hearing. It’s truly “eye-opening” to “see” in all directions at once.
2. givemesomethingtoread.com, which pointed me to that article, and many other interesting articles in their 2011 roundup.
3. Jessica, for being the industrious mouse that she is, even though this means I have homework for Christmas (two essays and two interviews!)
4. My aunt and uncle, for always providing delicious home-cooked meals. Tonight we had salmon. Yum!
5. Tiana, for teaching me more about how to do backbends. Today I bent back far lower than I had ever done on my own, and got back up, too! Soon I’ll be dropping up, down, left right.