How about when you go to sea, you take two books with you on how to see? “And There Was Light” might be your first read. This is the extraordinary memoir of Jacques Lusseyran, who, although blinded at the age of eight, became a hero of the French Resistance during World War II.
After the accident which destroyed his eyes, Lusseyran discovered that he had new sight. He says, “I began to look more closely, not at things, but at a world closer to myself, looking from an inner place to one further within, instead of clinging to the movement of sight toward the world outside.” He describes experiencing a radiance within, and this radiant light would fade when he was afraid. As a child, he became aware that if he were jealous or unfriendly, a darkness descended in which he felt helpless. When happy and serene, Lusseyran could approach others with confidence and kindness, and he says, “I was rewarded with light. So is it surprising that I love friendship and harmony when I was very young?”
While reading Lusseyran’s account, I kept recalling Sabriye Tenberken’s story in her book, “My Path Leads to Tibet.” Tenberken was also blinded at a young age and also describes seeing colors and light. Like Lusseyran, Tenberken was a courageous activist: She founded a school for the blind in Tibet after she discovered how many children there were ostracized for their loss of sight. (See wwww.braillewithoutborders.org.)
Lusseyran’s courage led him to become a leader in the French underground resistance. His story unfolds with his group being sent to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. It was there too that his acute sensibility of an inner light carried him through the fearful hell of the prison camp. (After World War II, Lusseyran went on to become a college professor in the United States.)
A different seeing is also the theme of Tina Wlling’s book “Writing Wild: Forming A Creative Partnership with Nature.” As does Lusseyran, Welling invites the reader to an awareness of our interconnections to the world around us, especially nature. She too notes how seeing comes from within and suggests ways in which we can become more aware of ourselves through our interaction with nature.
On a recent day in Cape May, and then on a ferry ride from there to Lewes, I saw dolphins leaping high. Their playfulness gave me great pleasure. Welling suggests pretending to exchange energy with an animal and make a connection. Well, when I saw the dolphins so close to the keel of the ferry, I clapped my hands in joy! Lusseyran would probably have had an inner sense of their presence and been joyful too.
* Kayta Curzie Gajdos holds a doctorate in counseling psychology and is in private practice in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She welcomes comments at [email protected] or (610)388-2888. Past columns are posted to www.drgajdos.com.

About Kayta Gajdos
Dr. Kathleen Curzie Gajdos ("Kayta") is a licensed psychologist (Pennsylvania and Delaware) who has worked with individuals, couples, and families with a spectrum of problems. She has experience and training in the fields of alcohol and drug addictions, hypnosis, family therapy, Jungian theory, Gestalt therapy, EMDR, and bereavement. Dr. Gajdos developed a private practice in the Pittsburgh area, and was affiliated with the Family Therapy Institute of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, having written numerous articles for the Family Therapy Newsletter there. She has published in the American Psychological Association Bulletin, the Family Psychologist, and in the Swedenborgian publications, Chrysalis and The Messenger. Dr. Gajdos has taught at the college level, most recently for West Chester University and Wilmington College, and has served as field faculty for Vermont College of Norwich University the Union Institute's Center for Distance Learning, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has also served as consulting psychologist to the Irene Stacy Community MH/MR Center in Western Pennsylvania where she supervised psychologists in training. Currently active in disaster relief, Dr. Gajdos serves with the American Red Cross and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts as a member of teams from the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Now living in Chadds Ford, in the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Gajdos combines her private practice working with individuals, couples and families, with leading workshops on such topics as grief and healing, the impact of multigenerational grief and trauma shame, the shadow and self, Women Who Run with the Wolves, motherless daughters, and mediation and relaxation. Each year at Temenos Retreat Center in West Chester, PA she leads a griefs of birthing ritual for those who have suffered losses of procreation (abortions, miscarriages, infertility, etc.); she also holds yearly A Day of Re-Collection at Temenos.Dr. Gajdos holds Master's degrees in both philosophy and clinical psychology and received her Ph.D. in counseling at the University of Pittsburgh. Among her professional affiliations, she includes having been a founding member and board member of the C.G. Jung Educational Center of Pittsburgh, as well as being listed in Who's Who of American Women. Currently, she is a member of the American Psychological Association, The Pennsylvania Psychological Association, the Delaware Psychological Association, the American Family Therapy Academy, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Delaware County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board. Woven into her professional career are Dr. Gajdos' pursuits of dancing, singing, and writing poetry.
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