I hate thinking about hypotheticals.

the one question that always gets me is the one that is, “would you rather be blind, or would you rather be deaf?”
It’s a difficult option when I think about it, and I think I’m pretty good about playing both sides. For the record, I’m lucky to have both, but what if you had to choose to start over without either one?

Starting With Sight

Imagine not being able to see the ocean and seeing the waves just go back and forth. Seeing all the people just smile and run into the sea with open arms. Imagine being able to see the sunrise and the sunset over the mountains. Imagine being able to see things that only happen once every few years, like a comet or an eclipse. Imagine not being able to see your future kids. Imagine not being able to see your parents or your siblings and seeing the signs that they show when they’re happy or sad. Imagine not being able to watch sports. Imagine not being able to play games. Imagine running the risk of tripping over anything. I don’t know how it could be worse than that.

Losing your sense of sound

Imagine not being able to hear your future kids say “dad” for the first time. Imagine not knowing the sound of the ocean for the first time. Imagine not being able to hear the raindrops hit your front yard. Imagine not being able to talk to your parents. Sure, you can figure out other ways to communicate, but can you imagine how much you would miss out just by hearing tones? Imagine not being able to listen to music, arguably the most excellent form of art of all time. Imagine not knowing what it would mean for you to tap your foot to the beat of anything. Imagine just having all the vision while having nothing processing in your brain in regards to sound.

Ultimately, I don’t know what I would prefer. Either way, we’re so spoiled by the thought of having these senses, some more than others. I don’t know what I would be able to live without more, but I know that not being able to hear would probably give my lifeless value. Ultimately we always see what we still want to see; sometimes, we completely ignore what’s in front of us anyways.