[Nfb-krafters-korner] Hi from a new member.

[artist]

I would like to say that before you can develop confidence, you have to 
first believe in yourself.  Until a person comes to terms  with where they 
are, they really can't go anywhere else regardless of what we say or do.  It 
is hard to let go of what you know  and adventure into a newer unknown 
tactile  world without vision.   It seems to me that it is hardest on those 
who are told they will be blind in the future than with someone who is 
suddenly blind with no warning.  When you have sight, it is hard to think of 
a world without it  But you can be without sight and still have vision.  If 
a person you won't is told  he/she have sight in the future , can  make them 
want cling to what they have as long as they can.  The real truth is that 
if you are going blind, your fear of that prevents you from embracing the 
changes you need to make  and preparing for them because you cannot imagine 
what it would be like.  Sudden loss of sight , it seems to me, omits that 
fear and the adjustment comes quite quickly if you want to retain your 
independence    The bridge from a sighted world to a tactile one is a giant 
step but not an impossible one.  The best way we can help others across that 
bridge is to encourage them , be there for them and most importantly show 
them the joy   and confidence you have found discovering all the new things 
you can do without reminding them the work it took for you to get there.  If 
you are there, having fun, others will join in.  If you portray things as 
difficult, you will probably not have many followers.    After all, if your 
ladies did not like to knit when they had sight, chances are they may not 
want to do it blind.  I have said in the past, we cannot let the darkness 
cripple us.  We need to embrace the darkness and live  a rich full in spite 
of it.  I look at myself as a woman living in the absence of light, not a 
person struggling to live in  the dark.      Off my soap box now, Hugs, JoAn