Honestly to compare anyone,
including myself, to Helen Keller is extremely difficult, nearly
impossible really. Of course I have not experienced what it is like to be both
deaf and blind. “The Story of My Life” gave my insight on what she went through
but I still do not and cannot truly understand what her experiences must have been
like. Helen’s life is so out of the ordinary. Her thoughts, feelings, and
emotions are very separate from my own, therefore, my imagination and attempt to
put myself in her shoes is really all I can do to try to understand her
experiences.
Research shows that when an individual loses one of their senses, their other senses become stronger to compensate. It was clear to me that Helen’s sense of smell was exceptionally keen. She wrote with such detail. She could take something as simple as the smell of a flower and develop the idea into something so precise and marvelous. The touch and smell of things became engraved memories in her mind. This differs so much from the way a regular individual experiences the simple things. Often those equipped with fully functioning senses, like myself, take the little things for granted to the point where we don’t even notice the details around us. And even if we do take the time to appreciate a moment, such as beautiful view of the mountains, we probably will never think about that particular moment again the same way and therefore we forget that experience. We are surrounded by a world that has countless exquisite moments and things, and we often do not even take the time or effort to truly appreciate even a fraction of those.
The fact that she was not only able to have the motivation to learn objects and words, but actually learned to speak is utterly remarkable. Especially the way in which she was able to do this through touching her teachers mouth and paying especially close attention to throat vibrations. I believe she is a genius. She was able to accomplish so much because of how determined she was. It is definitely eye opening to me because I can find myself becoming overwhelmed just writing up or typing out assignments, or reading through material. But to her “Knowledge is love and light and vision”.
Research shows that when an individual loses one of their senses, their other senses become stronger to compensate. It was clear to me that Helen’s sense of smell was exceptionally keen. She wrote with such detail. She could take something as simple as the smell of a flower and develop the idea into something so precise and marvelous. The touch and smell of things became engraved memories in her mind. This differs so much from the way a regular individual experiences the simple things. Often those equipped with fully functioning senses, like myself, take the little things for granted to the point where we don’t even notice the details around us. And even if we do take the time to appreciate a moment, such as beautiful view of the mountains, we probably will never think about that particular moment again the same way and therefore we forget that experience. We are surrounded by a world that has countless exquisite moments and things, and we often do not even take the time or effort to truly appreciate even a fraction of those.
The fact that she was not only able to have the motivation to learn objects and words, but actually learned to speak is utterly remarkable. Especially the way in which she was able to do this through touching her teachers mouth and paying especially close attention to throat vibrations. I believe she is a genius. She was able to accomplish so much because of how determined she was. It is definitely eye opening to me because I can find myself becoming overwhelmed just writing up or typing out assignments, or reading through material. But to her “Knowledge is love and light and vision”.
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