About Us

This blog is about how the world is viewed by the visual and the visually impaired. The intent of this blog is to bring the two worlds together. It is administered by two fabulous sisters, Toni, who is sighted and Robin, who became visually impaired in 2002 at the age of 18 due to misdiagnosis.



Saturday, May 29, 2010

Sightful Reflections

Day by Day, week by week, I watched my vision slip away.
Tears streaming down, sadness lies within, and fear striking my body.
I could hear people say for reassurance, it will be okay.
Letters on the eye charts were being enlarged in hope that I would see them;
unfortunately, to no avail.
Inside, I can’t help but feel so gray.
Every day is a mystery on how much sight I will have left.
It is hard to find words to convey the pain that I felt today.
Day by day, week by week, I watched my vision slip away.
There is anticipation that my vision will come back,
but then the weeks began to turn into months.
I must come to reality that for now,
my blindness is here to stay.
Blindness for me, is an unknown territory,
but after facing many struggles and obstacles,
I will not let the challenges stand in my way.
Through the heartache, loss, and life lessons,
I have learned that I will be okay.
Day by day, week by week, I watched my vision slip away.

The month May, marked eight years since my eyesight started to deteriorate, which has caused me to reflect back on my experiences. Within these past years, I have faced many challenges and frustrations, but they have all shown me my true inner strength. I believe in that common saying, “what doesn’t tear us down makes us stronger.” At an early age I learned a big life lesson, and that is to not take anything or anyone for granted, because you never know what each second holds. Take the time to think about all of the positives you have in your life, and be thankful; whether it is having the ability to see, walk, hear, or speak. Enjoy each moment and live them to the fullest!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Beautifully Blind Inc. on the Pride & Patience Show....

Beautifully Blind Inc. will be on the Pride & Patience Show Sunday May 23, 2010 via intranet radio.  Log on to http://www.livewireurbanradio.com/ and show your support.
Show times:
5-7 PM Pacific
6-8 PM Mountain
7-9 PM Central
8-10 PM Eastern

Pride & Patience is a new internet program designed to raise awareness and promote health, balance and resources within our community!  Your support is paramount and this is a grass roots call to action!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

You Have Questions...We Have Answers....

To help bridge the gap between the sighted and visually impaired/blind Robin and I decided to start "Questions Friday". We believe awareness and education is key. On Questions Friday one can ask any question they may have about blindness by either sending us an email or direct messaging us on twitter. We will try to answer to the best of our ability. So to answer some of the questions...one question was why do I blog about makeup and fashion to the blind/visually impaired? Well I believe that just like sighted individuals, there are blind/visually impaired individuals who care about that sort of thing. Before Robin lost her eyesight she liked to dress in the most up to date styles and wear makeup. Once she lost her sight it didn't change who she was as a person, it only changed how she had to do some things. Robin relies on myself and our mother mostly to help her with what's going on in fashion and make up trends. Any tips that we find that works for her to help maintain her independence we like to share because it may help someone else. Another question is if Robin cannot see why does she care about what she has on. The answer to this is that Robin could see until she was 18, she knows what she likes and she knows what makes her feel confident, again, just because she's blind it doesn't change who she is as a person. Robin and I have always had different styles and even though she depends on me to help her when shopping, her style is still her style. I'll describe something to her and she will tell me whether she likes it or not. There's been times when our mother and I have told her something was cute and if it didn't sound like something she thought she would like she would say no. I'm a short girl;5'1" and I'm taller than Robin so I live in heels. I've been trying to get Robin to wear heels FOREVER and she refuses! Not even a little kitten heel! She likes her flats...so she likes what she likes. Another question is how does she get on the internet. Robin has a regular laptop, but she has a screen reader program called Window Eyes which turns text to speech. Every thing we see on the screen is spoken to her. She accesses twitter through Accessible Twitter which is designed for easier use and navigation with screen readers. Robin has a regular cell phone which she can access Facebook, Twitter, the web and text. She can do everything a sighted person can on her phone through a program called Mobile Speaks which she purchased through her service carrier AT&T. We thank everyone for their questions and hope that you continue to send them in. The only way to dismiss misconceptions is through education and awareness. The more we all can learn about one another the better this world will be. We all have a disability of some kind; all are lacking in one way or another. What matters most is having the faith and courage to know that all things are possible as long as you put your heart and mind to it.
Until next time...stay beautiful!!!