Since my vision loss I have loved the idea of an arrow as a symbol of going forward. Several years ago I put a wooden arrow over my bedroom door so that every time I exit I am reminded to keep moving ahead. Recently I heard the arrow being described as someone’s emblem because an arrow has to be pulled back before it’s released to go forward. I liked this new take. At first. Then I asked myself: did I need to be pulled back in order to keep going in my life? I certainly wasn’t stagnant pre vision loss. I’m sure I would be a different person than I am today but that doesn’t mean I would be a worse or lesser version of myself. Almost twelve years later I’m not glad I’m visually impaired, no matter its role in my evolution. But it happened, I have moved forward – I have FOUGHT forward – with the occasional longing glance backwards still to this day.
Because I was pulled back violently, without warning, the only control I had was how long I would stay in that position and then, once released, would I fly or arc directly to the ground? At 5’ 2” and above my fighting weight, aerodynamic is not in the top one million descriptions of me. It turns out though, that when you’re drawn back hard enough, the tension of that position you’ve been put in begs for the sweet relief of being set free into the new unknown. And everyday as I leave my bedroom, I pull myself back just a little bit and shoot forward into my day and my life.
Special thanks to Uncle Larry for the archery lesson.
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindwriter #blindnessisaspectru #opticneuropathy #visuallyimpaired #blind #drawntothefuture
