I waited a few days before writing these lines, I needed to “absorb” all the emotions that I experienced during the days of walking in Portugal on the Rota Vicentina.
The edition of October 16-24, 2024 was defined as: “inclusive journey, open to visually impaired, blind, hearing impaired people, who will walk together with people without sensory difficulties who want to share the resources that each one has to offer”.
After the first day of walking, in the evening moment of sharing the impressions of the day, I asked to be “included” in the group.
Yes, because I realized from the first moment that, it was not the companions with difficulties who had to be “included”, but we had to have the desire to acquire the tools and sensitivity to enter their vision of the world.
And I, who in my walks am often alone and proceed in silence, who cross the world filling my eyes without words, I have learned the beauty of the description of a landscape, a moor, a village, a path, laundry hung out in the sun, a cloud, a blade of grass covered with sea snails, a cork tree, a stork, a beach, a succession of waves in the ocean, a fish couscous, a plate of olives and fried sweet potatoes…
And I learned to feel and appreciate the direction of the wind on my face, the warmth of the sun on my skin, the rustle of dry leaves under my feet, the smell of the undergrowth, the rustling of the fronds of holm oaks and cork trees and the consistency of their bark, the scent of cistus with its sticky sap, the scent of wild thyme, of myrtle, the flute notes produced by the wind that slips into Enrico’s stick, the squawk of the yellow flag of “NoisyVision” carried proudly in turn by the walkers.
Yes, because sight is a great gift, but it is also a sense that dominates over the others and that hides the perception of noises, smells, the tactile sensation of the things that surround us.
And my journey was gradually filled with all this.
And my heart? my heart has sometimes felt embarrassment, inadequacy, sadness, but it has been filled with smiles, hugs, encouragement, laughter, jokes, confidences, songs, explanations about the different difficulties of the visually impaired and consequent emotional implications…
And when we arrived at the farewells of the last evening, Dario – enthusiastic leader and president of the NoisyVision ETS association – asks me: “So, did you feel included?”
“Yes, I felt one of you”
Yellow The World
