Something extraordinary happened last week. One of the graduates of our Do What You Love e-course shared her story on our blog, revealing publicly for the first time the impact Usher Syndrome has had on her life. Essentially it means Kate Morell is losing her sight.
“As I lose my sight, travelling from light to dark, I am still finding this journey is harder than I ever thought it would be. Using a cane feels like I am wearing an invisibility mask. My self, my identity, my story, completely erased, replaced with the mask of that of a blind girl and nothing more. Is it just me who wonders about people and their stories, especially those with visible differences? I often wonder if anyone else ever wonders about their story beyond their differences.”
Kate took the course in October and saw a dramatic change in herself:
“I began the course feeling a little bit depressed, but as I worked through it my mood lifted. I got a little carried away listening to many of the suggested books while tidying and de-cluttering my house, making time to be offline, and spend more time doing things that light me up. By the end I was a changed person, so much so that I went back to the beginning to start all over again.”
But that’s not the extraordinary thing. During the course Kate had an a-ha moment – an idea for a new passion project called ‘Sunsets for Kate’. Sunsets are what she’ll miss most when she loses her sight completely. Kate realised that if she goes blind by the time she’s 50, and is fortunate enough to live until I’m 90, she’ll miss out on over 16,275 sunsets. So she started thinking about how cool it would be to experience a lifetime of sunsets in the lifetime of her sight by asking people to post sunsets for me on social media.
And guess what happened? When Kate shared her story on the Do What You Love blog, it was noticed by photographer Matt Lawson, who corralled his community to submit sunsets. Within 48 hours they had gathered over 2000 comments and sunsets! You can add yours here.
Amazing what can happen when the inspired becomes the inspirer!
After six years of running the Do What You Love e-course it never ceases to deliver transformational experiences for participants, who really do find ways to love their life in the present, whilst setting themselves up to do more of what they love in the future. The January class starts TODAY, so if you want to be part of it, REGISTER HERE and dive in with us. (PS did I mention I might be doing a few Facebook Live chats in class this time round? Exciting!)
Have a great week
Beth
