Stern Views

Yesterday my wife and I spent an hour of our day blind. Yes, you read that correct. We went to “Dialog in the Dark” at the Union Station in Kansas City. In the exhibit, you’re taken to a room that has lights, you are given a cane most blind individuals use to navigate, and you sit down and listen to a recording describing what you are about to experience. As the recording plays, the lights dim, until its all black. No light. No blindfolds. Just pure darkness. You can’t see shapes, you can’t see colors, there is no light. We were warned before going in that we should remove our glasses (you obviously won’t be needing them) for if they fall off they are not going to be found until someone steps on them. When the recording finishes your guide (who is legally blind) enters the room, makes a self-introduction, and then takes you through the exhibit. This all takes around an hour. The exhibit takes you through everyday experiences where you rely on your still-functioning senses. At the end the guide even gives you an opportunity to ask questions about life as a blind individual.

The exhibit, experience, whatever you want to call it, was astonishing. I never thought my senses of hearing, touch, taste, and smell where that good until I had to use only those four senses to experience the world. To say that I have a new understanding about blindness is an understatement. I guess it is one thing to conceptually understand blindness and another to understand it based on experience. I felt an overwhelming sense of thankfulness as we exited the exhibit. Even now I realize how much I haven’t thought about the gift of sight and light in the world. 

Having my senses tested in this way was something I will never forget. I never realized how accurate our ears are or how many memories can be evoked by a certain smell or sound. In one room the situation is a construction zone. The sound of people in the streets, the feeling of brick walls, the “cement” under your feet, etc. made me really visualize what that scene looked like, except I couldn’t see anything. My senses of hearing and touch made the scene really come alive. Another scene is a farmer’s market. As I picked up onions, peppers, garlic, apples, tomatoes, and potatoes I could imagine foods that I have eaten with those ingredients. I visualized my own local farmer’s market in Lawrence and all the people walking around. I still can’t believe how much I take all of my senses for granted, not just my sight. My tastebuds seemed to explode when I tasted chocolate in the café. My fingers felt ultra-sensitive as I felt the brick walls in the city-scape, the wood of the benches, and the contact I made with other individuals in the exhibit.

I know this post probably reads as a commercial for this exhibit, and I’m fine with that. The fact that an exhibit exists that is so “eye-opening” is absolutely amazing to me. The experience is well worth the $20 ticket, it is truly something I will never forget.