MESSAGE FOR WEEK BEGINNING 29th March 2004

'very nearly normal'

Blind people get a lot of sympathy but deaf people are often treated as though they are stupid. Is this because deaf people appear perfectly normal and therefore their reactions must be due to stupidity. Would a deaf person want to wear a special badge that indicates deafness - as a white stick indicates blindness? Probably not because a deaf person wants to appear as normal as possible. If the badge could indicate 'very nearly normal' then it might be acceptable. How much of ourselves do we want to make visible? Our mood of the moment? Our purpose of the moment? Our perception of a relationship? We want signals to open up possibilities not to close down possibilities.

Edward de Bono nmt
26th March 2004