Discoveries

"For many, darkness means silence. But for the blind, darkness means listen."*

Last week I went to a museum here in Istanbul called Dialogue in the Dark. It is an interactive museum where a blind person leads you around in the dark to help you experience what life is like without sight. 

You ride trams, walk on sand, find park benches and trees, listen for nearby streams, order tea, read signs.. All in complete darkness. 

This past semester I had the chance to meet and become close friends with two blind students. Unfortunately, our relationship bonded mostly through a terrible accident they were affected in, but by God's hand they both survived and through it a relationship was developed. 

The experience at the museum taught me many things, but it mainly gave me a glimpse of understanding what daily life is like for my friends and for others who are blind. An hour and a half is barely a fraction of the time a blind person spends without access to light, but it is quite a while for someone who is used to getting around by sight and can still have a life-long impact.

Lots of time is spent fumbling around looking for things and trying to figure out where you are, but one thing I noticed it this: the blind must constantly live in a state of discovery. Each moment of their lives are spent finding new things and figuring out where they are and what their surroundings are. 

Can you imagine the joy of completing a 1000 piece puzzle by yourself when you finally put the last piece in? It is difficult and the process can be frustrating, but in the end you have created a marvelous masterpiece. In the same way, the blind live each moment putting puzzle pieces together, finding precious discoveries in every thing they do. 

I take many things for granted. It was a complete eye-opening experience to have my eyes taken from me. There is so much more in life to be enjoyed and discovered that is beyond what we experience everyday. Who knew that finding a bike on a sidewalk and spending a few minutes searching for a bell on it would be so gratifying once you finally heard the precious sound? Or that discovering a park bench and spending a few moments in silence would teach you that the touch of a friend's hand or the faint sound of a calling bird could mean so much more without eyes than with them?

I hope that I may too be able to live my life this way, making each moment I live a joyous discovery.



*Quote said by our guide at Dialogue in the Dark