In honor of our 40th birthdays, we’ve come up with 4 lessons we’ve learned over our 40 years of growing and living with sight loss.
Cheers to 40!
- Community is essential. We live in a society in which independence is highly valued and misunderstood. Going it alone is often idealized while interdependence is minimized. We value connection and we love our tribe
- Knowing when to lead and when to follow is part of finding your ease. Mobility for people with vision loss can bring up tricky questions like: Should i use a cane even though I can see decently well at times? Would a guide dog help me move about more quickly and easily? Should I take someone’s arm as I walk into the restaurant tonight? How should I respond when someone tries to grab my arm and steer me around or offers unsolicited help? Learning when to lead and when to follow is part of the journey.
- Insight is one of the strongest forms of seeing. Our society places a lot of importance on physical sight, yet when we use our “third eye” to look inward, we can see ourselves and the world around us in new and beautiful ways. It takes a little bit of silence, a little bit of stillness and a whole lot of practice to find vision in the non-physical.
- Dishwashers should never be left open. Our shins have 40 years worth of stories to tell.
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Happy Birthday! I think your life lessons apply to about all of us. Substitute a few words for each person’s life, and it all fits again. Nicely summarized. (By the way, my nemesis is the washer door.)
Ouch! Washer doors can be bad too….we have a stackable and a few times the dryer door has been left open and I walked right into it with my forehead.
Thanks so much for your comment and glad it resonated with you!
Jenelle
Great reflections and I completely agree with #4, ouch! Also, you two look 25 in that photo! Happy Birthday!
Thanks Jac! Lighting is amazing for adding youth – haha!
Jen
Hello Janell and Joy,
I always love reading your blog and I’m so glad to see that you’re still at it!
I so enjoyed getting to know you last weekend at the Dare to Own Your Story retreat for visually impaired women Janell! I look forward to meeting you one day Joy. Please contact me if you’re going to be in the bay area.
Those darn dishwashers!
Thank you, Ann! It was so lovely to get to know you at the retreat and have another “daring sister”. I do hope you and Joy can connect the next time she is in your area for work, which I think is Nov? I will put her in touch with you.
I hope you are well!
Jenelle
I am grateful for my wise and wonderful daughters! And I am most repentant about the open dishwashers and drawers! Ouch!!