When was the last time you sat in complete silence? When the only noise you could hear might be the hum of the refrigerator? When was the last time you closed your eyes to all of the superficial light that surrounds us? When have you surrendered to total darkness recently? It takes effort to seclude yourself from the top layer stimulants of light and sound. You have to dig. You have to find an emotional shovel and penetrate that barrier of man made light and persistent noise. Sometimes I find myself jealous of those who lack the sense of sight and hearing. What peace we could attain if all of us had the ability to turn those two senses off? If I was blind and had to become so in tune with my senses of touch, smell and hearing, how different could the world be? If I could live in a world where I couldn’t see the images of children being starved, of babies being ripped from their mother’s wombs? If my touch was so responsive that it burned a memory in my brain? If I was deaf and I couldn’t hear the sirens screaming to an emergency, or I couldn’t hear the tone of sarcastic and condescending voices? If I only had the ability to take words at face value rather than the emphasis that is used to deliver them? How different would the world be if we didn’t have a tone in our head when we put words out there via social media? There is much to be learned from our fellow humans who rely on less than all five senses. Have you ever closed your eyes and formed a memory based on touching the face of those whom you love most? I haven’t. If you lacked sight, could you truly understand the voice and tone of your most loved? Do you know how the breath they take between sentences can help you anticipate their intentions? Have you ever studied the face of the person you are with and know how their facial expressions can help them portray what they are feeling? If you lacked the gift of hearing could those facial cues give you insight into how your fellow man was trying to get across to you? If you could not hear would you know if the person sitting in front of you was, sad, mad, happy, confused, joyful, ignorant? For those of us who have the gift of hearing, touch, sight, taste and smell. We need to find bliss and gratefulness in our existence but realize that those who may lack one of those senses are more in tune with the really important things in life. What the mainstream might see as a disability might actually be a gift. Who are we to determine what type of difference is a “disability” and what difference is actually a gift.