Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! It feels like ages since I did a disability-related post on here. 🙂
Being disabled has both positives and negatives. We live in a world which is either putting us on a pedestal or victimizing us. Infantilization. Being treated like a kid is something very common. And some of us do end up normalizing it especially if it happens far too often. On top of it we constantly need to fight for access proving why we need and deserve it at the first place, more often than I’d like to admit.
However, contrary to popular beliefs and misconceptions, life as a blind person has some positives. And we do not live a dismal life.
For today’s post I’m going to share six things I love about being blind. Sometimes when I’m having a hard day reminding myself of these positives does end up making me smile. Because sometimes the ableism and microaggressions from people around you does get to you and it’s only natural to literally hate being disabled.
Before I get into the post, just a side note, these are my own experiences. And I can only speak for myself, not the entire community of blind and partially-sighted people or the disability community.
With that aside, let’s get into the post!
1. The ability to read in dark
This has got to be the first thing, right? 🙂 Braille readers do not need light to read as we read with our fingers. Most sighted people (which I got to know much later) do not read with their fingers. So even when they know Braille, they read with their eyes. I’m not a regular Braille reader. My Braille skills are quite rusty but someday I would want to get started with improving them and learn unified English Braille which is not in India yet. Trust me it’s fun to read when everyone else is sleeping and you don’t even need lights!
Learning Braille as a kid is also fun. You end up doing a lot of things to develop and enhance your tactile abilities even before you start to learn actual Braille. I remember playing with playdough, threading beads to make necklaces and playing with Braille peg boards. I do envy today’s kids though since they have more fun options to learn. Um writing this makes me feel like I was born ages ago 😂😂
2. Making fun of sighted people
Well let’s face it, sighted people use their vision wayyyy too much. Born with the kind of vision I have, it is really weird to me that you all literally need lights for eating, bathing and even when you’ve dropped something on the floor. the pen you just dropped made a sound while it fell, you know?
It is even more fun when you point them out and some curious people end up wondering and then trying to test whether that actually happens. 😂😂😂
I remember having this long conversation with my friend where all we did was make fun of sighted people around us and wondered why they need so much light to do things.
Don’t get me wrong. But I think this is something you all won’t understand. But we do actually sometimes end up having fun at sighted people’s expanse. 😂
3. It gives me a different prospective
More often than I’d like to admit, I’m the only disabled person in a room. And disability being something which most people are still afraid to talk about, a lot of points end up being missed.
Being disabled is a part of my identity and I cannot change it. Which means that it intersects with all other parts of my identity. Like being a woman, being non-white, etc. I don’t think I’d look at all that intersectionality and those access conflicts if I wasn’t blind.
4. Helped me find my love for writing
If I wasn’t blind, I wouldn’t have felt isolated and ended up coming across that blog I came across back in December 2018. Which means that I wouldn’t have felt related with the content creators I engaged with and thought of starting my own blog.
I ended up starting to journal a few months before that looking back and I’m surprised I still continue with it. And my disability surely has a part to play in it.
So come to think about it, I probably wouldn’t be blogging if it wasn’t for my disability.
5. A lovely community
This is kinda similar to the last point. I’ve been fortunate to be exposed to the good side of the disability community first. And I’m really grateful for that. So far, I’ve had a lovely experience interacting with fellow disabled people. Knowing that I am wayy more cautious online. I’ve learnt so much from fellow blind people and fellow disabled people. And still continue to learn.
It’s like you are a part of another world when you engage with those people. Because they just get you in ways others around you don’t. It’s comforting to find people who relate to you. 🙂
I’m aware it’s not all positive. But trust me, it’s not all negative as well. Like everything in life, there are good and bad parts to all of it. Nothing is perfect. But the good parts do keep me going.
6. Experiencing the joys of disabled friendships
Friendships can be hard for anyone. And when you’re disabled they sometimes end up being more hard. I’m fortunate enough to recently rediscover how having a fellow disabled friend is just different than anything else I’ve ever experienced. Because they just get you. In a way no one else around you does.
They get all that cribbing about how the world fucking sucks sometimes, how being disabled gets too much sometimes and they get the importance of little joys. Like being able to read an ingredient list on that website, finding some earring which sounds lovely, going out for the first time, finding that movie you wanted to watch for so long with audio descriptions. I can list so many more things. There is a beauty in bonds like these which is hard to put to words.
Oh also its fun making fun of sighted people together. The other day my friend and I ended up having more than an hour long convo on what kind of sounds we like and dislike and I did not know this could be done!!!
Being disabled does come with its challenges. And I’m aware am lucky enough to have supportive people around. This was not the case earlier. So there is a lot of getting use to which I’m having to do. But its lovely and despite how fucking badly world sucks sometimes, I wouldn’t change it for anything. Being blind has given me bonds and memories I’ll cherish for forever.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Writing this helped me smile amidst the chaos. 🙂It is not always easy to find positives and that’s okay. There is nothing wrong in feeling negative about your disability or chronic illness. I do hope you have something to relate to or some kind of outlet to express yourself. Because I’m learning how important that is.
Are you a fellow disabled person? What’s one thing you like about being disabled? It can also be a fun little memory you have which made you smile. Please feel free to share with me in the comments!
Khushi x
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