Blindness: A Human Condition

Have you ever sat with your doctor or optometrist and taken a color blindness test?  For me, the first time was at our family doctor's office when I was a child.  I was asked to identify the numbers hidden in several colored circles.

Being a person who likes challenges and wanted to pass the test, I hurried through each card.  The doctor didn't give any feedback, and I began to wonder and second guess myself:

• Did I miss something?
• Could I have misunderstood or made a mistake?
• Maybe I hurried through and didn't pay attention?
  

What's wrong with me?  Is the doctor trying to trick me?

What do you see (or not see)?
(Photo credit: Color Vision Deficiency
- American Optometric Association)

Color blindness does run through my family, but I eventually found out that I saw colors within the normal spectrum.  This childhood experience, though, fascinated me:

• The need for feedback and approval;
• The self-doubt and questioning;
• The desire to be normal and accepted; and,
  
• The quickness in blaming or suspecting someone else.
  

How many of us can identify?

Do we notice our own blindness?
(Photo credit: Color Blindness - Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments
- Prasad Netralaya)

What I have noticed over the years:  there are many different types of blindness that we may struggle with -- color blindness; congenital blindness; night vision; macular degeneration; central vision loss...

 

And, if we are honest with ourselves, there are several forms of cultural, ethical and spiritual blindnesses that limit how we see and experience this beautiful world.

Are we willing to notice and accept our limitations?
(Photo credit:  Cultural Blindness - Definitions, Examples,
Pros, Cons - HelpfulProfessor.com)

Blindness is an inability to see; an unwillingness to perceive or understand; and, sometimes, it is a lack of judgment or ignorance.  Blindness is a human condition that we all experience in some form.

 

This is where we need one another: for feedback and affirmation; correction and treatment; support and carrying... and to slow down blaming the other person for our own limitations.

 

What blindness or limitation will you notice and explore this week?

 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)