We have all felt at some point in life that God, the universe, the notorious spaghetti monster or whatever you believe, is dealing out more than we can handle.
When I lost my vision I felt as lost as any blind man could. It was way more intimidating and anxiety-ridden than I could have ever imagined. There was a lot that I contemplated when it first happened.
"Why Me?"
"What was I being punished for?"
"Why do bad things happen to good people?"
Well, honestly, that wasn’t what I thought; that came mostly from the people who didn’t know me very well. I have often wondered, what constitutes a bad thing exactly?
We all seem to believe that bad things happen to us throughout our lives. I have heard everything from, “when will I catch a break!” to, “go ahead pile one more thing on!” And who hasn’t heard, “I forgot to wear my colander!” Negativity seems to be the biggest and in most cases, the most controlling influence in our lives.
We all seem to believe that bad things happen to us throughout our lives. I have heard everything from, “when will I catch a break!” to, “go ahead pile one more thing on!” And who hasn’t heard, “I forgot to wear my colander!” Negativity seems to be the biggest and in most cases, the most controlling influence in our lives.
Why is that?
In most cases, We must blame ourselves for our negativity. There are decisions that I make in my life that afterward, I think to myself — “Shawn,” Because that’s what I call myself, “Shawn, what were you thinking?”
These are not always decisions that are dangerous or frightening, although, I have had my fair share of those as well. Most times they’re just things I really didn’t think through.
“Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us.”
-Nicole Reed
It’s all a matter of perspective.
I was given the opportunity to perform my hypnosis show at the school for the blind. They were having a fundraiser to send several blind students on a special trip and wanted me as the main entertainment. I thought this was an awesome opportunity to give back to the blind community and show these young people that there is nothing you can’t accomplish if you put in the work and dedication.
I have performed for 20 years and for many fundraisers; I would promote it as always and my gracious fans and followers would come through and support as they always have. I was correct and thousands of dollars were raised.
I was honored and grateful to be asked to be part of this amazing event and until the night of the show, I really didn’t give it much more thought than that.
You would think being blind, I would have been a little more prepared for what was to come. You would think I would have, at a minimum, thought to myself, “Shawn,” because that’s what I call myself, “Shawn, you should prepare a show for blind people.”
I’m the guy with a vision loss and my show is completely designed for people with vision. Throughout the years I really never gave this whole concept much thought. You would think after losing my vision and the numerous times I hit my head on things it would have dawned on me.
Nope! Just a bunch of useless bumps.
I was so proud of myself for being able to adapt my show for my vision loss and still perform for the sighted that I totally ‘lost sight’ of others with vision loss. (I intend all my puns.)
As I was sitting backstage prior to the show, I suddenly realized that the people who were here to support this event were friends and family of the kids themselves.
Yes, my followers came through and donated to the event but only a few showed up for the show itself. I don’t blame them for this, we will all gladly help out the needy but it’s the friends and family that want to see their kids in a hilarious show of hypnotic escapades; especially when they are disabled in some way.
I am not trying to say that their need is more important — but it is.
Every parent wants to show their child that they are just as capable and able to accomplish anything they set their minds to; but I think that desire is a bit more prevalent in parents of a disabled child. I am just minutes from show time and I, for the first time, realize that my volunteers were the blind students themselves.
“Here are your lemons; good luck dumb ass!” I felt like I was up the proverbial creek of excrement without the proper means of propulsion.
Not only had I never performed for the blind, I had committed an even bigger blind person sin. I hadn’t even thought about them being part of the show, prior to this very moment.
To add salt to an open wound I have had blind people attend my shows and — pour more salt, talk to me after and ask me to explain certain bits so they could understand why it was funny. Still, I didn’t think about how visual my show is.
"What’s the IQ of a houseplant?"
Even with my deficient IQ, I have determined that one of the biggest factors in this failure is that I was sighted until 4 years ago. I can still ‘see’ in my mind how the show plays out and what makes it funny.
It didn’t have to be explained because I had seen it so many times. But I had totally ‘lost sight’ — figuratively and literally, of how I feel, when I am taken to one of my granddaughter's dance recitals or gymnastics tournaments and every move has to be explained and relayed to me.
Not only that but how would I do, performing those dances or gymnastic movements with just verbal instruction and not being able to ‘see’ the demonstrations?
“Do a back plié with a step kick twist and end with a ta-da; make sure you smile and show those spirit fingers.” "Ready, 1-2-3 wide awake, annnnnddd, go!”
So, here I am sitting backstage holding the lemons that were just handed to me with no water or sugar to make my lemonade in a desert of very thirsty people.
How could I allow myself to get into this situation? I have committed the past 4 years learning how to navigate this world as a blind person and I overlook one of the most important things in my life.
“What the shit Shawn?”
"Lemons to lemonade — Lemons to lemonade," I keep repeating in my mind hoping that whatever guardian angel I still had wasn’t out drinking again leaving me to my own plant-based intellect.
In the end, I realized that just because life gives you lemons, lemonade isn’t your only choice. There are many uses for lemons and some of them are way more fun, and after all, I was hired to entertain.
When life hands you lemons — Juggle!
The solution isn’t always easy and at times you have to realize, if you see yourself in a bad or difficult situation, it only takes some creative processing to change it.
Thank all the sober comedy gods, the show was a huge success and the participants were able to understand and express themselves in a way that I never believed possible. I took those lemons that were marked for lemonade and used them in a way that I had never thought of before, and it worked.
Inside each one of those lemons wasn’t lemonade; it was a bottle of Champaign waiting to be uncorked and the celebration to start.
I would like to hope, after this experience, my IQ has risen slightly above plant life. I have no idea where the inspiration came from, maybe one of the bumps on my head finally opened my eyes.
The realization that there is always more than one option to make every bad situation better, has forever changed my idea of how I should travel down the path of life.
SP
So awesome!
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