Sight Unseen

"Incredibly beautiful and oh, so graceful," a blind man said as he and others watched a ballerina dancing in an old, school gymnasium.

"What?" inquired his young niece, sitting beside him.

"The ballerina," the uncle replied.

"But, how can you...?"

"I can feel her."

"I don't understand."

"Watch the ballerina closely. Look, not at her surroundings, but at her body and face."

"Okay."

"What do you see?"

"A woman dancing."

"And?"

"That's all."

"That is all?"

"Yes."

"No!"

"What? How can you say that?

"Look closer! Can you see the muscles of the ballerina moving through her entire body - all in perfect control? Smooth fluidity directed by her mind. The ballerina's mind is responding to her perceptions of the music in her performance as well as her emotional state. Right now, this woman only knows the dance that she has created. That is all happening in her mind. Her body responds to what her mind says. Just watch... closely. Concentrate fully on her. Nothing else."

"I... I... You're right! It is like you said."

Later, after the show, as the man and his niece leave the gymnasium, the niece stops and inquires, "I still don't understand how you know all of this. I thought you were coming here because I wanted to go. I just don't under..."

"Sight is only a convenience in some cases. Did you not see the ballerina's eyes? They were closed. I may be blind, but I can still form images in my mind... now watch..."

The man began to dance. Each movement was gracefully controlled. His muscles could be seen, like small waves in an ocean, moving underneath his clothing, all responding to his wishes. As his dance climaxed and came to its eventual conclusion, the man heard his niece sniffling.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"I never knew... I... You were beautiful."

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by Joeseph Simon

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