WHY NO BLINK ?

WHY THE TURTLE ?

In order to remove the tumor, it was necessary for my eye cancer surgeon to remove both my eyes. In loosing my eyes, I also lost the ability to see.  I now have two prostetic eyes. The concept of NoBlink© comes from the fact that I can not blink anymore, even when surprised or afraid. This physiological deficet is actually a benefit— when I realized my eyes are always open. I wondered what could mean (metaphorically)— the idea to keep your eyes open when facing danger, to in fact embrace it and to keep going forward, even if you cannot see what follows.

In addition to the name NoBlink©, I thought that the turtle would be the perfect element to illustrate this concept. More than the non-blinking nature of the snapping turtle, turtles have always been a source of inspiration and possibility, This for two main reasons. The first being that at my first Chrismas, I recieved a turtle, as a teddy bear, that I kept until I turned 18. I actually still keep it today. Eversince I was a baby, this turtle followed me through the entire cancer, and made me develop an huge facination in this animal which always inspired me. The second reason is that, as a kid, I always loved the cartoon story of the Hare and the Turtle. With time, I realised that I could draw a link between my life and the character of the turtle.

After I could not see,  often heard, “You cannot do this,” Or”This is not possible for a person who is blind.” People who did not know me well and who perhaps imagined they were helping typically gave discouraging guidance about my personal envies, my academic choices or, more recently, my professionalambitions.. With this, I have also had to deal with mocking [what ?] and barriers. Everytime I face difficult situations, I think about the Tortoise’s race with the Hare. The Hare although arrogant and pretentious, is championed as the easy winner. The Tortoise attracts little notice. Yet, she remains calm and focused on what she needs to do to win, inspite of everyone’s belief that the Hare would win. She is determined to reach her objective and most important of all, she keeps smiling! At her own pace, step by step, she finishes victorious.