In the Trash Bins of our Brain

In the Trash Bins of our Brain

 

Here's the problem.  Many of our impressions of others are buried in the back rooms of our minds.  We act on this information, or lack of information, without ever considering whether we should haul it out and examine it.  Until it is brought to our attention we just go about our business. 

My parents did not sit down and examine their beliefs regarding limited vision and its impact on their son's life.  They demanded of me all that they demanded of my sisters.  When I walked into a doorjamb or dropped a dish, I was clumsy.  When I could not find something that was sitting out in plain sight, I was stupid.  Clumsy Stupid Carl.  Even now at 75 I guard against reacting to those two trigger words. 

Over the years, after I'd become totally blind and had made my way in the world, my parents altered their thinking.  They did trot out all their old blindness baggage and went through it, updating it and tossing most of it aside.  And I loved them for that.  But it did not take back those early years.  How do we reach inside folks brains and alter beliefs before they are called upon?  How many misconceptions and wrong thinking are piled up in my head right now?  Usually, the only way I discover them is when I jump to some conclusion and get my hands slapped. 

 

Curious Carl