"Achieving what you want and breaking the rules is not only fun but rewarding."
I learned this simple truth early on. If I didn't challenge conventional wisdom, no one would do it for me. When I broke free from the stereotypes of someone who is legally blind, I had more fun and gained the most insight about myself and the world around me.
Over the years, I have endured numerous surgeries to save as much vision as possible. Despite the pain, I still push my innovative specialists to explore new possibilities and techniques so that I can view as much of the world as possible. The drive to "view" the world, is a double-edged sword in that it requires an extreme amount of physical and emotional energy to actually see anything useful at all.
It's not all been sunshine and roses. In the winter of 2001 at the age of 20, I lost 50% of my already limited vision in my one remaining eye. I started to believe that I needed to live within the "normal" social rules, in order to be happy. Get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, dependent on others around me for transportation and recreation. I thought this would stabilize my life after such a traumatic experience. This was both a good and bad thing. For the next 7 years, I played the game of a typical worker, mired in drudgery. I could not continue to just exist, living without a creative outlet in faceless suburbia.
Finally, in 2008, I decided that I was done with the typical rules and decided to pick up everything and move myself, and my wife to the heart of downtown Seattle. I had landed a sales position with a well known auto dealership in their Internet sales division. (I sold cars but I can't drive. No kidding!) The pay was good, and since my place of work was only a few blocks from my apartment, I was able to develop a more aggressive routine. One which allowed me to ignore most of the limitations that had previously come from my visual impairment.
Independence had come, and I had broken the mold.
Then, In the spring of 2010, I decided, after much personal conflict, that I had to leave my job at the local car dealership. I left the safety of my steady job to start my own business, and thus Blind insight LLC was born.
Blind Insight LLC was created to enable a lifestyle redesign. Passion for photography is a concept not often associated with a legally blind individual. This art gallery will redefine the concept of who can create visual art. It is possible to do the unthinkable.
I have to thank my dear wife and my close friends who were there when times were really rough. My family and friends have been my driving force to live a life uncommon, and thus make theirs uncommon as well.
In gratitude to the doctors who have been instrumental in enabling me to start this journey into the world of business and photography, I will donate a portion of each purchase to the following research institutions:
Doheny Eye Institute
http://www.doheny.org
Affiliated with the University of Southern California USC
Devers Eye Institute
http://www.legacyhealth.org/devers
Affiliated with Legacy Health Systems
William Madsison
Founder
Blind Insight LLC. Seattle, WA
I learned this simple truth early on. If I didn't challenge conventional wisdom, no one would do it for me. When I broke free from the stereotypes of someone who is legally blind, I had more fun and gained the most insight about myself and the world around me.
Over the years, I have endured numerous surgeries to save as much vision as possible. Despite the pain, I still push my innovative specialists to explore new possibilities and techniques so that I can view as much of the world as possible. The drive to "view" the world, is a double-edged sword in that it requires an extreme amount of physical and emotional energy to actually see anything useful at all.
It's not all been sunshine and roses. In the winter of 2001 at the age of 20, I lost 50% of my already limited vision in my one remaining eye. I started to believe that I needed to live within the "normal" social rules, in order to be happy. Get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, dependent on others around me for transportation and recreation. I thought this would stabilize my life after such a traumatic experience. This was both a good and bad thing. For the next 7 years, I played the game of a typical worker, mired in drudgery. I could not continue to just exist, living without a creative outlet in faceless suburbia.
Finally, in 2008, I decided that I was done with the typical rules and decided to pick up everything and move myself, and my wife to the heart of downtown Seattle. I had landed a sales position with a well known auto dealership in their Internet sales division. (I sold cars but I can't drive. No kidding!) The pay was good, and since my place of work was only a few blocks from my apartment, I was able to develop a more aggressive routine. One which allowed me to ignore most of the limitations that had previously come from my visual impairment.
Independence had come, and I had broken the mold.
Then, In the spring of 2010, I decided, after much personal conflict, that I had to leave my job at the local car dealership. I left the safety of my steady job to start my own business, and thus Blind insight LLC was born.
Blind Insight LLC was created to enable a lifestyle redesign. Passion for photography is a concept not often associated with a legally blind individual. This art gallery will redefine the concept of who can create visual art. It is possible to do the unthinkable.
I have to thank my dear wife and my close friends who were there when times were really rough. My family and friends have been my driving force to live a life uncommon, and thus make theirs uncommon as well.
In gratitude to the doctors who have been instrumental in enabling me to start this journey into the world of business and photography, I will donate a portion of each purchase to the following research institutions:
Doheny Eye Institute
http://www.doheny.org
Affiliated with the University of Southern California USC
Devers Eye Institute
http://www.legacyhealth.org/devers
Affiliated with Legacy Health Systems
William Madsison
Founder
Blind Insight LLC. Seattle, WA
© Blind Insight LLC.