Young Writers Society

I don't know if you've tried doing this, or if you are even able to do this, but it might be very instructive to wear a blindfold for several days (maybe a weekend when you're not doing much?) and see how well you do and how you adjust to things.

Regarding temporary disabilities that seem like they could be permanent and confronting them...

When I was in my early twenties, I started having strange severe wrist and arm pains that made it very difficult for me to write without pain. I wanted to overcome the pain through determination and grit, and I did my very bestest, but it was still agony and it made me rethink pretty much everything... my desire to become a writer, whether I would still be valuable in my own eyes if I couldn't write, and how I could accept myself if this situation was permanent?

Of course, I wanted to overcome the obstacles and write. And I was able to write because I pushed myself to do so, even though I had to endure much pain. But, the psychological torment of having to go through this was knowing that this could be a chronic pain that would last my entire life and soon, perhaps, I would not be able to write at all. It was very painful to go through.

Well! Long story short, eventually the pain went away after months and months of suffering. The source of the pain was from conversion disorder, which is a psychological disorder which also coincidentally can cause temporary blindness! (In fact! When Adolf Hitler was attacked with mustard gas in World War I, it is thought that his temporary blindness was due to conversion disorder! And now you know!) So -- THANK GOD -- it turned out to be a temporary chronic pain (if that term even makes sense?) that I can manage through stress management techniques (though, it can and does come back if I don't take care of myself emotionally).

Anyway, the inspirational part about that long and horrible journey, for me, was not the fact that I forced myself to write and that I overcame my pain to produce a novel. In fact, I now think that I was a bit of an idiot for pushing myself to do so when it was just so overwhelmingly painful. The inspirational thing about that journey was that, through my pain and suffering, I was able to see myself as a person who, even if my body failed me, was still a person who was worthy of dignity. Before, I thought that what I did was the only thing that mattered and that people were mostly worthy based on what they did. Which is a rather shallow way of thinking of people; I realize that now.

So, though outsiders might view my overcoming the pain and other various obstacles as my major accomplishment, in my perspective, it was not overcoming obstacles to write, but rather my spiritual growth during that time learning that I mattered just because I was -- and not just because of something I did.

Anyway. I point this out because, since you're doing this first person dual narrative, it might be interesting to see how the two people's perspectives differ on what the main accomplishment is. The friend might take pride in the fact that this temporarily blind person is overcoming all these things. The blind person, on the other hand, may emotionally grow into a more deeper person and she may consider that her greatest accomplishment.

Just a couple of thoughts!