Miss Ruth Williams
This is a picture of Miss Ruth’s son, Coleman, at age 5. Coleman has short, wavy brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, and a joyful smile on his face. He is wearing a bright orange shirt with an applique of a tiger’s face on it. He is holding his brown teddy bear, Aaliyah. PS: Coleman is now 25, while, paradoxically, Miss Ruth is still 29 years old (although, technically, she’s really 58 ?).
FOMO is an acronym that stands for, “Fear of Missing Out,” and it’s one of the reasons so many people take selfies. It’s a way of saying, Look! I’m where the action is! I’m having fun! See?
But somehow it seems they’re trying to prove they’re enjoying life instead of being present in that moment.
So I propose we start a new acronym: BWYARN:
Be Where You Are Right Now.
And what is BWYARN all about?
- Rule #1: No selfies. No need to prove you’re measuring up to what other people are doing in life.
- Rule #2: There are no other rules. Just let it all hang out and relax.
When my son was younger, I felt guilty that I didn’t take more pictures of him, because all my friends had videos, pictures, and scrapbooks of their kids. However, I did manage to capture a picture of my son at age five with an expression of joy on his face.
So when I feel guilty about what I should have done as a mother, I look at this picture. I must have been doing something right, at least at that moment, for him to be feeling so happy!
For so many of us living with vision loss, there is a sense of where we should be in life as compared with others in the community.
Some people have learned daily living skills, such as cooking, like MasterChef winner, Christine Ha. She was treated like any other contestant on the show, even being subjected to host Gordon Ramsey’s, usual tirade of exasperated expletives, and emerged victorious in the end.
Many blind people are experts at cane travel and can cross 8-lane highways like nobody’s business. Blind cane traveler Grant Hardy’s documentary, Have Cane, Will Travel showcases how people with disabilities adapt to be able to continue seeing the world, even if they can’t actually see the world.
But, as with everything worth doing in life, all of these people started out with an obstacle in the way and learned to climb over it. If there’s some goal you want to achieve, the first step is the hardest one — and the most important one you’ll ever take.
Don’t let the fear of missing out on what everyone else is doing keep you from creating interesting adventures of your own. Be where you are right now. Get comfortable with who you are and what you want out of life. In that serene, still space, you’ll realize that, with some creative thinking and a little moxie, your dreams are still within reach.
