So I was thinking this Sunday about what its like to really get a glimpse into the life of another human being; seems like we walk around our lives living in our own world. Our thoughts, feelings, and history coloring what we see, to the point where I think its rare for us to deeply sense what life is like in another human being’s identity.
I was watching our coming of age class this Sunday perform a song in American Sign Language, and I suddenly found myself tuning out the music and thinking, really thinking what it would be like to “watch” music instead of hear it. I recognize that I cannot really understand what its like to be deaf, to see the world without any soundtrack, because I’ve never lived that way…but for a moment I had a deep appreciation for how different it would be, and how much it would change my understanding and experience of the world around me. That got me thinking about what it would be like to live inside another’s world; how different my life and experiences look to my wife for example.
I hope that maybe glimpses like that help me to deepen my appreciation for others.