Pitch Black

So after a random heads and tail flipper on random.org, it became clear of what it was going to be, I was going to be blind for an hour. At first I didn’t want that, but I didn’t want to become deaf neither, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing one of these senses, but the heads and tail help me with that.  

Pitch black it became, it was different, more tuned with my other senses. It was like my hearing got better, I felt more in contact with my body, thereby more aware with my other senses. But I struggled the first few minutes, because couldn’t find my headphones. When even going to the living room was hard, watching tv was a struggle and I will not even tell what happed in the kitchen.  After all that, I got used to it, It wasn’t that confusing any more. A good thing was that I had Siri with me, we became really good friends, she’s so funny, but still difficult to use when being blind.

An hour was gone, and what an experience it was. I learned well from being blind, its difficult living without some senses, respect to all people who does that. 

Being Blind

This afternoon, as requested, I put on a blindfold and tried navigating around the house whilst completely blinded. Luckily, my step-dad had already made coffee and offered to pour me a cup, so I didn't need to risk scalding my hands by pouring hot coffee on them. After getting a cup and undoubtedly spilling half of it on my way to my room as I fought my way up the stairs like a caffeine drunkard, I decided to read a book to experience what it was like for blind people to read. 

Although I didn't catch a whole lot of what was going on in the book, it was still interesting nonetheless. I realized, though, that that perhaps wasn’t the most efficient way to experience the sensory change that comes with blindness, but it did give me a good idea of some of the limitations that the lack of a visual input brings. Instead, I opened up one of the windows in my room, felt the breeze hitting me in the face, and I put on some music - although that in itself was pretty difficult as well. The lack of vision made me focus more on the music and thus enjoy it all the more, which was a fascinating experience. In that way, I suppose that each one of our senses brings with it a certain type of “pollution”, in the sense that the lack of, in this instance, visual distractions makes all other senses that much keener, I especially experienced an increase in my auditory awareness.

Therefore, I would say it was an interesting experience. The strongest contrast to me, however, lied in the limitations on what I was able to do. The shift in the importance of sense I described earlier wasn’t very significant to me, sadly, which I tried to change by forcing it, through additional auditory input, i.e. music, which did bring some change with it. However, I have no doubt that, were I to leave the blindfold on for a longer period of time, this enhancement of the other senses would become much more prominent. 

Blind for an hour

The experience of not being able to use the sense of sight for an hour has made me realize and understand the difficulties of being blind..
One thing I noticed when I didn’t have the sense of sight, was that I automatically used the other senses a lot more.
For instance, I used my sense of hearing a lot more than I normally do and therefore I became conscious of the many unnoticed sounds there were in my room. When my eyes were open, I thought that my room was quiet, but when I closed them for some time, I heard things that I wasn’t aware of before.

But it was not only my sense of hearing that I began to use more, it was also my sense of touch. If I was looking for something then I had to feel my way, which was quite frustrating, because I can normally just look around and find it instantly. The lacking sense of sight also became a problem when I went from one room to another, because then I had to feel my way again and always make sure that I would not go straight into something and bang my head. Therefore, I also had to concentrate all the time to memorize how the different pieces of furniture were placed around me.
After I was blind for an hour, I definitely got more respect for blind people and a greater understanding of how it is to be blind.


(I have no idea why my text is white..)

Blind for an hour

I decided to be blind for an hour, and it was a different experience. At first, I felt helpless because it was very difficult to walk and I was afraid of bumping into something. I walked slowly and I felt with my hands if I was bumping into something. Sometimes my arms were tired, so I stopped feeling with my hands and just walked. Suddenly I bumped into the wall. That hurt.

     I really felt helpless because I always needed help; I needed help to take a glass of milk, to find my pencil and many other things.

     After half an hour, I started getting used to be blind. I used my sense of hearing to go from place to place, but it was, however, still difficult. Everything was still dark, but my sense of hearing became better because I could here noises which I have never heard before. I could hear the clock ticking which I have never noticed.

     All in all it was boring to be blindfolded because I couldn’t watch TV, play on my computer, do homework or anything else, and I actually didn’t know how to spend the time.

     But this experience made me think of people, who are always blind. They can’t watch TV, play videogames and many other things. I feel sorry for them and I have decided to help a blind next time I meet one.

The spoken words, which are communicated to me, I cannot hear. I am constantly trying to read lips, but it is difficult. I try to pay attention to their facial expressions and their body language, but I still cannot understand the message they are trying to send to me. Not being able to hear is like participating in a guessing contest.

This is how I could imagine deafness being like, but at the same time, it is a guess…

I tried to fill my ears with toilet paper, but unfortunately, I was still able to hear noises, therefore the experiment was not performed successfully. However, I could imagine that the lack of ability to hear, would have caused me trouble when communicating with others.

Overall, I think that being deaf differs from being able to hear to a high degree. I have not experienced what life as a deaf person is like, but I do think by performing the experiment correctly, I would have experienced some of the complications that occur, when you do not have the ability to hear, for example communication problems. Furthermore I think I would have experienced my other senses being heighten. 

If I had to choose between losing my sight or my hearing, I would choose to lose my hearing. However, in this task, I chose to close my eyes for some time. I chose to be blind, because I thought that would be the biggest change. It wasn’t for a whole hour, but long enough to feel just how much I had to rely on my other senses for help. The first thing I did was to walk around in my house. By walking around, I mean walking with at least one hand touching the wall, so I had a small idea of where I was. I wasn’t comfortable with not being able to see at all, because I constantly kept waiting for the moment where I would smash my toes into a piece of furniture. That “fear” gave me the idea that I would crawl around on the floor. I know it might sound weird, but at least there would be a very little chance of me hurting my toes. However, while feeling uncomfortable with this “being blind” task, I noticed that my hearing had been improved. I’ve heard somewhere that this actually is the case for people who have lost one of their senses. It is a great advantage for a blind person walking in the streets to be able to hear the traffic better, when he or she can’t see it. People who have lost their sight will often find other ways to navigate around, but I still feel sorry for them. How horrible would it be not being able to see a beautiful sunrise, the look, or the smile on someone else’s face? 

Being blind

Being blind

So being blind for and hour, or maybe a little bit less, is not easy, and now after this experience I really feel sorry for the people who are blind.
I actually went through a lot of trouble just trying to become blind, and I ended up taping cotton on my eyes, which actually wasn't that good of an idea, because the cotton got stuck in my eyelashes every time I blinked. But when I finally got the cotton to sit so it didn’t irritated me, I had to find the way from the desk to my bed. First of all I must have looked like a complete idiot walking around with my arms stretched so I wouldn’t bump into anything. Besides looking like one I also felt like one because I wasn’t exactly looking like a supermodel with all that cotton on my eyes. However when I finally got to my bed, I had to call my mom so she could turn on my computer, I tried several times until I gave up trying to key the password. But anyway she turned it on so I could listen to an audio book. It was actually kind of nice, not getting distracted by my phone or computer I just sat there and listened. My mom had to help me with a lot of things like getting something to eat or just  finding my phone and telling me what time it was. I really noticed how I couldn’t do anything whit out help, it was a very weird feeling, having to rely on another person.

"Ouch, that was a tree!"

I decided to go the library, which is 30 minutes away, and back again while being completely blind. Not blind in the comfort of my home, but outside to make it more challenging and interesting. I used a pair of my mom’s nylon socks to cover my eyes and a pair of my sister’s sunglasses to cover the socks, so I wouldn’t attract that much attention. 

My sister and brother trudged along to make sure I didn’t die a horrible death without being able to see, what actually caused it. Or they just wanted to mock me – I don’t know. But I was really grateful for their help and I don’t think I would’ve come home alive if I didn’t have them to scream in my ear every time I was about to bump into something or to calm me down when I thought we were standing in the middle of the road with a car driving right towards us.
Since I couldn’t hear anything I had to rely on my other senses, especially my hearing sense, the sounds seemed a lot louder, as if my hearing suddenly had turned super-sensitive. I found that sounds I usually blocked out became prominent and more important, as I used them to orient me.

It was of course completely dark without my sight. It felt like I was a shell full of darkness, where my thoughts floated around and only sounds were able to penetrate the shell. I felt oddly alone and on my own, which scared me. On the way to the library I had a very hard time going in the right direction and trying not to be afraid of any possible threats, which was why I walked extremely slow.

When I reached the library, it dawned on me that I wouldn’t be able to look at interesting books and read a bit. Reading is such a big part of my life, that I can’t imagine not having the opportunity to read. Of course there are braille books, but not every book gets translated to braille.

When I finally had to take the blindfold and the pair of sunglasses off, I had to sit down for 10 minutes to get used to all the different colours and the seemingly intense light.

It was a terrifying experience, and even though it was fun to try, I can’t even start to think about how it must be to never take the blindfold off. 

blind... for an hour..

Blinded for an hour is more than enough

Being blind is not easy, even if it is only for an hour. When you cannot see it is a lot harder to get around. The simplest things such as eating nearly becomes an impossibility. When blind, eating takes more than twice the time is should. For one, you cannot find the food on the plate. Second, when you have finally found the food, getting it on the fork is difficult and to make it even worse half of the food gets spilled before it can even get close to the mouth. However, living without food for an hour is not really a problem compared to when getting around; walking without an eyesight is as a matter of fact truthfully a difficult task. One wrong step can be the beginning of a fall. One wrong step could also mean stepping on a Lego building block and I have tried that and can confirm all doubts about whether it hurts or not. Because stepping on a Lego block hurts, it sends a throbbing pain from your foot throughout your body. Fortunately the pain stops in seconds, but you still remember it. After the Lego incident walking blindfolded becomes a horror as the memory of the pain from stepping on the Lego block still creeps around in the back of the mind. 

Overall, everyday-life gets way too troublesome when being blind. For me being blind for an hour was more than enough. Therefore I can with confidence conclude that the hour I spent blind is the first and hopefully the last hour I will ever spend blind.

Blindfolded for an hour- "Interesting".

As I putted on my bandage and sat down I immediately noticed one thing. I noticed how my brain started to work with my other senses, as I only could see the darkness. I started to feel the things I touched, much more powerful. I noticed how the fabric on the bed felt like with my fingertips, something I never noticed with the ability to see. It was wonderfully soft and a little cold caused by the wind from the open window. I could feel the breeze tickle my cheek. I do usually not feel the wind so detailed. All those details, as the sound outside my window. I could hear a vehicle and some small feet on the sidewalk. Could it be a child on a scooter? I was tempted to look. I didn't. Instead I stood up and raised my hands in front of me trying to work my way trough the hallway. I used the same senses; the sense of hearing and the sense of touch. It was scary. My feet couldn't take the certain steps as they were used to. I could feel the confusion with the cooperation between my brain and the rest of my body- really interesting. After an hour it was a relive to take the bandage off. For a while I was always thinking about the details that not only was awarded my sight. As I said, it was really interesting.