Seeing clearly while blindfolded.

This week I was struck by a seemingly simple act - a student walking around with a blindfold she made herself. She said she wanted to do it for better body awareness. She started just in the Community Room, getting herself to the kitchen, and later branched out to the front door landing and the front steps.

What I see in her chosen blindness is trust, care, and fun. I received her permission to share this reflection and the photos I took when she absolutely couldn’t have known I took them - she was blindfolded!

When I first saw her slowly walking around the school with her hands outstretched and the swath of silky fabric around her head covering her eyes, I immediately thought of all the trust it takes to blindfold yourself in a social situation. She trusted that no one around her would take advantage of her sightless state. She could experiment with this physical impairment trusting that this was a safe place to explore vulnerably.

She was safe because she’s cared for in our community. Some students tried to help guide her but no one tried to trip or trick her - that would be more than frowned upon in our ecosystem. It would be taken very seriously by students. Many students seemed to enjoy watching her tentative steps amid the boldness of chosen blindness, but no one poked fun in a malicious way.

She clearly enjoyed the experiment as she repeated it the next day. It’s fun to try new things, to be able to create the unknown in a known space. It’s a unique gift in our world today for an adolescent to feel free to trust that those around her will treat her with such care that she can literally close her eyes and have fun without fear.

I think experiments like this have the potential to raise a person’s awareness and sensitivity for people with physical disabilities like blindness. They also allow the people around them to heighten their awareness and sensitivity toward difference and those with greater vulnerability. None of these benefits are possible without the foundation of trust and care. It’s fun and profound all at the same time.

Perhaps that’s why this felt so beautiful to me - it was such a simple and fun choice made in the context of the deeply ingrained values of trust and care that our community has cultivated over these years together. That’s a gift to see.