Being+Blind+Is+a+Blessing

**“Being Blind Is a Blessing”**
How would you describe color to a blind person? Color seems pretty simple to the average person, but to someone that can’t see, color is a complex concept that is impossible to understand. I have been fortunate enough to be friends with a blind person, Scott, and those experiences with him have forever changed my life. For being blind, he has the greatest view on life I could ever imagine. Talking with him, he often tells me that he doesn’t want to know what color is. At first, this idea amazed me. I didn’t know what I would do without my eyesight. I love walking to far classes and just seeing everything in between, and if I wasn’t able to do that I would be heartbroken. After thinking it through, I’ve finally realized what he really meant.

All our lives we are taught to notice the differences between red and blue, green and yellow, purple and brown. It is drilled into us that color is important, and that each color has its own meaning. Red means stop, green means go, purple is the color of royalty, and black signifies darkness or emptiness. Then we are asked not to apply this to people. After being taught that color is important all our lives, we are supposed to not notice the color of people? Despite what anyone might say, everyone notices. It is one of the first attributes that a person notices about someone else. People notice three things when they first see a person: the way they dress, the color and style of their hair, and the color of their skin. Everyone is guilty of it but nobody wants to admit that they notice the color of people’s skin. Once this realization sunk in with me, I was able to understand what Scott meant when he said he doesn’t want to know what color is.

According to Scott, being blind is a blessing. He can’t judge people by the way that they dress or the color of their skin. He only knows someone by their personality, and who they really are. He might be blind, but he is better than anyone else at seeing true beauty. Scott has taught me to see things in a different light, and that is exactly what I want to bring into the classroom with me. I think that if I am able to get this message across to my students, to see the world through the eyes of a blind man, I would teach my students something that is way more valuable than anything that they would find in their curriculum. Too often in this world everything is judged by outer appearances, and people don’t bother to try and find the true beauty that lies beneath. If we all took the time to really get to know a person, I think that everyone would be amazed at how much their world has changed.