Look with the heart

“I need a blind date.”

That’s the response I got from a vision impaired man at the train station when I asked if he needed assistance today.

We both laughed.

I said I used to work for the vision impaired and could remember how to be a sighted guide.

He initially said because his leg was painful, he didn’t want to slow me down. I said “I have time.”

He also said he knew his way around but that he found me funny so yes, I could guide him.  I said he was the one telling the jokes so it’s him that’s funny. And we laughed.

He shared some challenges he faced and I appreciated his strengths. His train arrived but he stayed to talk.

He asked me what I do. I mentioned something briefly about compassion.

And he shared how an amazing public servant had gone all out to support him but that overall he wondered why there was so little compassion in society. I asked him what we could do as a society and he said much more education is needed.

He also gave the example of how people who make decisions need to go directly to the ground and listen to people’s truths and lives.

He said he wasn’t popular and having spotted his courage to speak truth, I offered him a quote I had read years ago:

“The truth will set you free
But first it will piss you off.”

We laughed.

And then he shared his favourite quote:
“The eyes cannot see when the mind is blind.”

And just as he stepped away into the train, I added something from one of my favourite quotes to his quote:
“…may the heart see.”

The full version of the (adapted) quote I shared is from “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery:

“But the eyes are blind.
One must look with the heart.”

And in this case, he was a literal illustration of this.

—

🔆 I was energised, enriched and nourished in the less than 10 minutes I spent with this stranger.
When have you been served when you thought you were serving?

🔆 If you’re a decision-maker, how could you listen to ground-truths so they reach your heart?

🔆 When smart phones came out years ago, I told myself I wouldn’t look at them when walking around. This has been a blessing. My mind is free for those moments. My eyes are alert. I make space for Life to reach me in its magical ways.
And it does.