I would not be able to imagine a day without vision, nor would I be able to live a day without the ability to hear. This experiment was quite frightening and was in fact, a good wake up call as to how we individuals rely heavily on these two senses. If I was to become both blind and deaf in an instant, I would personally lie in bed for the remaining time of my life. I would trust nobody. I would feel non existent and would feel as if I were dead. Outsiders to this lifestyle, such as I, will never know the true feeling of its people.
Hand-eye coordination and depth perception are definitely not my fortes. Taking part of this experiment definitely did not favor my case to the least bit, as I had found myself constantly walking into a wall of lockers. Using hands to guide was also not very helpful to prevent so from happening. I was not even able walk in a straight line. Amongst all of this, I had also constantly found myself conjuring up various images of where I could’ve been and I’ll admit that my imagination had taken over quite a bit. It felt as if I could have been about to hop off a cliff at any given second, although I already knew that we were just slowly loitering in the school hallways. I was also able to guess some areas, in which we had passed by correctly. In others cases, I was completely lost. It was kind of odd though. I could feel the breeze brushing up against my skin the whole time, it’s something would not regularly notice, besides it always being cold at our school. Based on so, I believe it is safe to say that spatial familiarity may heighten with a blind sense of motion, touch may also vary within it as well. It kind of reminded me of my older sister. She was always able to wake up just as we had entered Forest by The Bay and before pulling up into the driveway, after a long nap. My mom would never have to yell her name or give her a quick nudge to wake her up. I, on the other hand, always found myself in bed the next morning not knowing how I had gotten there.
Trust was also another predominant and conflicting part of this “blind walk.” Luckily, most of us are well acquainted with our partners and were able to hear their directions. I would say that giving a hundred percent of my trust to someone is something that I am reluctant in providing. Had it not been someone I had known, I would have not been able to take a single step. Individuals like Helen Keller have no choice, but to trust themselves and their surroundings to live on a regular basis. Based on a mental note, I assume their lives to also be based on a “sixth sense,” which consists of intuition and precise, well thought-over decision making. In the medieval era, being blind may or deaf may have been perceived to be a sign of the devil or of moral sickness. There’s no saying in what they may have thought of doing. They had burned many innocent lives of women, based on their beliefs of association with witchcraft.
Encountering others in the hallway was also quite odd. I remember hearing the shutter of a camera going off in front of me. I definitely could not tell how far away or close the individual was to my face, or if he had even been taking a picture of me at all. I would have normally called that person some weirdo or at least have given him “the look.” Being blind folded prevented me from doing so. I didn’t know how to react, what if it was someone I was close friends with or a teacher and I ended up flipping them off. I would connect this with the elimination of prejudice and stereotypical judgments. Without have clear sight on what race or nationality, even gender, most individuals would be refrained from using such hurtful judgments or playing some insulting jokes.
Although fairly frightening, I did, however, find this experiment to be positively stimulating, as the abilities to hear and see declined, other senses equally heightened. I also found the importance of having to confide in others to lead a successful life, in this case, walking around the hallways. In a slight sense, I believe that this experiment also aroused a heightened slight intuition. Like many unfair aspects in life, setbacks can be smoothed out with counteracting advantages. Individuals similar to Helen Keller have my uttermost respect and, in my opinion, lead the most independent lives. As much as I hate to sound cliché, “we should be grateful for what we have and make the fullest of it. We often forget to do so, because of focusing on what we lack.”
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