Thank you Helen Keller

A couple of years ago, I had the honour of playing Helen Keller in a movie based on her essay, Three Days to See.

The essay, for those who have not come across it, is Helen Keller's call to the seeing world to pay attention to the details around them. In it she imagines what she would see, if she had only three days to see.

Helen saw and heard with her fingertips. So, I had to learn to see with mine. To this day, I'll sometimes stop and stare into the distance while running my fingers over something. I began to notice things I never did before, such as how uneven a grass plot can be.

In the three days, I had to think on seeing everything for the first time. Truly I think it would have been a wonderful, overwhelming experience. A thousand little details: the colors of the flowers, the glory of the sunrise and set, the joy and wonder of friends faces, the face of a baby- and unreadable characters on a page.

I love to read. Helen loved books. It was therefore one of the saddest things to eagerly snatch up a book, only to realize that Helen wouldn't have been able to read her dear books that were not braille, had she been granted the gift of sight for three days.

There are times when I am lazy, and don't truly see everything, but I do see a lot more now,and take time to deeply drink in the visual beauty of the world around me. Thank you, Helen Keller.