Blindicles for the Arts or Articles for the Blind?

'Articles for the Blind' frequently fall through the letterbox of my blind friend.

I use the term blind rather than the PC 'visually impaired' because many of us sighted people hear the term 'visually impaired' ('VI' to those in the know!!) and think instinctively of someone who 'can't see very well'. I use the term blind because this friend does not have any perception of light or dark, let alone image discernment; her vision is 100% impaired … plus some!!

I have learnt a huge amount from this friend, including that two of the most frequent misconceptions are:

• Guide dogs are not so well trained that you say, “Take me to the corner shop” and then just follow them. It is the owner, not the dog who learns the route; the function of the dog is to get their owner to the destination in one piece … most of the time!
• They are 'Guide Dogs' not 'Blind Dogs': it's the owners who are blind, not the dogs!

So, why do I choose to tell you about a blind friend in particular? Well, despite a complete lack of visual function she is incredibly creative!

Surprised?

Isn't creativity a visually inspired thing?

Obviously not.

When I first discovered that my friend had no perception of light and dark, I was intrigued to find out what she 'saw' when she closed her eyes: Was it black? Was it white? Was there colour?

Her response made me take a step back … "No! There is just nothing!"

Yet, as we talked about colour and shade and clothes and house decorations I was staggered that she had the most amazing concept of colour and co-ordination. She could go into her wardrobe and pull out clothes that matched and then go to her jewellery and find an appropriate necklace and earrings. It didn't matter to me whether what I saw as green related to how my friend saw green. I was confronted with was a lady who, when she closed her eyes (or kept them open for that matter) could 'see nothing' yet could perceive in her mind colour matches and co-ordination to fine degrees of detail.

My friend could describe pictures she saw in her mind, musical pictures that were stimulated through conversation, sounds, taking a walk … many things. During discussions new light would be thrown on old problems simply because she was able to see things from a different perspective. And it was amazing how many times those ideas were the key that unlocked the door to new discoveries and new ways of doing things.

I was struck how differently we could see situations; metaphorically and physically (though she had a slight disadvantage!) and yet how synergistic these views often were. They weren't 'right' or 'wrong'; they complimented each other, rubbed against each other, challenged each other and in so doing released something new. One of the great things about creativity is that it can be sparked when we come face-to-face with people who see things very differently from us, in this case, quite literally! Some magic moments occur when my view is challenged or even destroyed by that of my friend. These are the times when connections are made between things that don’t naturally connect for me and true creativity is born.

I know that my perspective on life has been greatly enriched by knowing this friend. I hope that each of us can find something fresh from relationships that we have in business or our personal lives that may have become stale or contentious because of our very different views.

Perhaps if we see the potential rather than the problem we will all benefit.