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I Don't Mind Inspiring Others
Jul. 19th, 2014 01:47 amThere is a concerted effort among blind people these days to let sighted people know that, whatever they do, they are not to feel inspired by us, or amazed at what we can do. To a point I understand this: Why should you be amazed by what to me is just ordinary life?
So while I somewhat understand the sentiment, I strongly disagree with it. What is life if we don't have people who inspire us? And the truly inspirational people aren't the celebrities, the newsmakers, the people who want to be inspirational. I'm not inspired by athletes or actors who work six or eight months out of the year for twenty times my annual salary, not unless they've done something that specifically inspires me, something which typically has little or nothing to do with their celebrity status. The people who inspire me, at any rate, are those who show me through their own lives and actions that it is possible to do something I can't imagine doing, or through circumstances I can't imagine traversing.
Some years ago, a friend of mine had a stroke. I watched as he dealt with the repercussions of that stroke: the need to relearn what had once been second-nature activities such as walking, talking, typing, etc. I was inspired by this. I couldn't imagine going through these experiences and coming out the other side the way my friend had. But my friend showed me that it could be done. Did he consider himself especially inspiring? I rather doubt that he did. But that was okay, he was inspiring to me, nonetheless.
I've been inspired by far too many people in my life, people who didn't feel they were doing anything particularly inspiring, to let it bother me when someone says to me that the way I handle my blindness inspires them. Sure, to me it's just life, doing the things of life. But to many people, the idea of going blind is something akin to the end of the world. They can't imagine how they could deal with it. The fact that we can, that we do, deal with it inspires these people. And what's so terrible about that? I am losing my hearing. To me, the thought of going deaf is similarly an end-of-the-world scenario. The fact that I know deafblind people who not only survive, but thrive, inspires me. It gives me hope. IT encourages me that someday, when I do become deafblind, I will be able to move on and still make a difference, because the people who now inspire me showed me that it can be done. What right to I have to get angry with people who are inspired, or even amazed by what I can do? Is what I do anything special? Well, that's sort of a matter of perspective, isn't it? To me, it's not. To me, it's moving on with life. But for someone who simply can't imagine surviving blindness, and there are people like that out there, what is ordinary and mundane to me might be extraordinary to them. Again, I've been far to inspired by far too many people who do not consider themselves inspirational to refuse to do my bit.
A friend of mine told me a story. A little girl had spent a lot of time building up the courage to talk to him. He was blind, and she wanted him to know how amazed she was that he could do the things he did. He brushed her complements off as inconsequential. Later, he was told that the little girl had run off in tears, because her feelings had been labeled as invalid or pointless. When I used to sing, back when I could sing, and someone complemented me on my singing, my dad sternly told me not to brush off the complements, but rather to simply thank the people who made them. This was very sage advice.
Am I special and inspiring and amazing? Well, to me, heck no. As blind people go, there are a zillion better role models than I am. But to someone else, I might be, and that's okay. We all are, in our own way. We all deal with things that other people might not be able to imagine doing themselves. And that means you, whoever you may be. But unless you are willing not to be inspired by anyone for any reason ever again, you have no right in the world, in my opinion, to not let others be inspired by you. Instead of being angry and ranting about it in blogs or on social media, thank the person, and allow yourself to feel good because, just by being you, you made a difference in someone's life (I can think of many worse things one can do), just as, by being themselves, other people must surely have made a difference in yours.
So while I somewhat understand the sentiment, I strongly disagree with it. What is life if we don't have people who inspire us? And the truly inspirational people aren't the celebrities, the newsmakers, the people who want to be inspirational. I'm not inspired by athletes or actors who work six or eight months out of the year for twenty times my annual salary, not unless they've done something that specifically inspires me, something which typically has little or nothing to do with their celebrity status. The people who inspire me, at any rate, are those who show me through their own lives and actions that it is possible to do something I can't imagine doing, or through circumstances I can't imagine traversing.
Some years ago, a friend of mine had a stroke. I watched as he dealt with the repercussions of that stroke: the need to relearn what had once been second-nature activities such as walking, talking, typing, etc. I was inspired by this. I couldn't imagine going through these experiences and coming out the other side the way my friend had. But my friend showed me that it could be done. Did he consider himself especially inspiring? I rather doubt that he did. But that was okay, he was inspiring to me, nonetheless.
I've been inspired by far too many people in my life, people who didn't feel they were doing anything particularly inspiring, to let it bother me when someone says to me that the way I handle my blindness inspires them. Sure, to me it's just life, doing the things of life. But to many people, the idea of going blind is something akin to the end of the world. They can't imagine how they could deal with it. The fact that we can, that we do, deal with it inspires these people. And what's so terrible about that? I am losing my hearing. To me, the thought of going deaf is similarly an end-of-the-world scenario. The fact that I know deafblind people who not only survive, but thrive, inspires me. It gives me hope. IT encourages me that someday, when I do become deafblind, I will be able to move on and still make a difference, because the people who now inspire me showed me that it can be done. What right to I have to get angry with people who are inspired, or even amazed by what I can do? Is what I do anything special? Well, that's sort of a matter of perspective, isn't it? To me, it's not. To me, it's moving on with life. But for someone who simply can't imagine surviving blindness, and there are people like that out there, what is ordinary and mundane to me might be extraordinary to them. Again, I've been far to inspired by far too many people who do not consider themselves inspirational to refuse to do my bit.
A friend of mine told me a story. A little girl had spent a lot of time building up the courage to talk to him. He was blind, and she wanted him to know how amazed she was that he could do the things he did. He brushed her complements off as inconsequential. Later, he was told that the little girl had run off in tears, because her feelings had been labeled as invalid or pointless. When I used to sing, back when I could sing, and someone complemented me on my singing, my dad sternly told me not to brush off the complements, but rather to simply thank the people who made them. This was very sage advice.
Am I special and inspiring and amazing? Well, to me, heck no. As blind people go, there are a zillion better role models than I am. But to someone else, I might be, and that's okay. We all are, in our own way. We all deal with things that other people might not be able to imagine doing themselves. And that means you, whoever you may be. But unless you are willing not to be inspired by anyone for any reason ever again, you have no right in the world, in my opinion, to not let others be inspired by you. Instead of being angry and ranting about it in blogs or on social media, thank the person, and allow yourself to feel good because, just by being you, you made a difference in someone's life (I can think of many worse things one can do), just as, by being themselves, other people must surely have made a difference in yours.
