I travel alone to and from work by bus the same way each day. The stops are opposite my home and office. There's nothing complicated about the trip and rarely does anything extraordinary happen. However simple it may seem, though, I always have a sense of accomplishment on arrival.
To my mind, I've good reason to feel this way: being visually impaired, I make the journey with only a white cane and my senses of hearing and touch for guidance. It's the same whenever I attain a goal by myself, whether at work, home or out and about. Researching an article, cooking a meal, buying bread - each time the job gets done, I mentally chalk up another victory. A deep sigh, a subconscious high-five and then it's on to the next task.
Daily life, for me, is a game of chess. I need strategies and moves to find my way around rooms, buildings and streets. That requires memory, forward planning, being ever-alert and knowing what to do when all isn't going well. Outside my comfort zone, the wider world can be as cruel as an enemy.
My choice of words may seem dramatic, but they're appropriate for what has to be faced. An unexpectedly sharp kitchen knife, a careless driver, a self-absorbed fellow pedestrian, a failed traffic signal - each poses a hazard that could cause injury or worse. Sighted people faced with the unexpected see it as an inconvenience. I look on it as a challenge, but there are times when it can cause concern, worry, fear and, sometimes, panic.
That was my emotional cycle the time the bus went past my work stop and pulled up at a place I'd never been before. I was the only passenger to alight and when I stepped onto the footpath, it was obvious that this wasn't a usual Hong Kong street, bustling with activity. I was the only person about. To one side was a wall, to the other, a road full of vehicles whistling by.
I went back in the direction the bus had come and found a street crossing. It took me to a no-man's-land of tram tracks, a rumble of wheels and urgent bell ringing warned me to go back. Heart pounding, I retraced my way and found some steps, and an underpass to more unknowns. Eventually, my meanderings were spotted by a passer-by and I was returned to familiar surroundings.