The World I Live In

Written by Helen Keller

Narrated by LibriVox Community

The World I Live In by Helen Keller is a collection of essays that poignantly tells of her impressions of the world, through her sense of touch, smell, her imagination and dreams.

My hand is to me what your hearing and sight together are to you. In large measure we travel the same highways, read the same books, speak the same language, yet our experiences are different. All my comings and goings turn on the hand as on a pivot. It is the hand that binds me to the world of men and women. The hand is my feeler with which I reach through isolation and darkness and seize every pleasure, every activity that my fingers encounter. With the dropping of a little word from another's hand into mine, a slight flutter of the fingers, began the intelligence, the joy, the fullness of my life. Helen Keller, quoted from her essay, The Seeing Hand (Summary from text and Laura Caldwell)

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

Helen Keller

Helen Keller (1880-1968) was an American author, activist, and lecturer. Born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, Keller suffered a sudden illness at nineteen months old that left her both deaf and blind. Her parents brought her to Baltimore to consult with Alexander Graham Bell, then a teacher for deaf children. He referred them to the Perkins Institute for the Blind, which paired Keller with Anne Sullivan, a visually impaired instructor who would remain by Helen’s side for the next half century as her governess and companion. With Sullivan’s help, she learned to read and write, as well as to speak using the Tadoma method. Between 1888 and 1900, Keller attended specialist schools for the deaf and blind before being admitted to Radcliffe College, then Harvard University’s school for women. In 1903, she published her autobiography, The Story of My Life, with the help of Sullivan and her husband John. A year later, Keller became the first deafblind person to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts. She joined the Socialist Party of America in 1909 and spent the next twelve years speaking and writing on topics such as women’s suffrage, pacifism, and workers’ rights. In addition, she joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1915. Keller was also a prominent activist for African American civil rights, supporting the NAACP and joining the American Civil Liberties Union. From 1924 on, she dedicated herself to lecturing and organizing for the American Foundation for the Blind, traveling to thirty-five countries and across the United States to speak on behalf of those living with blindness. Major written works include Out of the Dark (1913), a collection of essays on socialism, and My Religion (1927), a spiritual autobiography expressing her relationship with the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg.

Reviews for The World I Live In

[jmarcengill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Keller's book is an exploration in wonder and fascination. She takes you through each of the senses opening wide your sense of gratitude. This book is a must read for our generation.

As an intellectual of sorts it really made me think: The intellectuals trouble with gratitude is due to a tendency for deep thoughts to disembody our minds from the world and even ourselves. If our body or the world request acknowledgement they seem like an intruder messing up our day. The value we have for our thoughts and the worlds they produce actively reduce our body and the world to a status of 'head transport'.

For example: What if the commute could be full of value rather than road rage? Well, for that you'd decide to make value adjustments. When frustration kicks in determine to make adjustments and again. If the music is good give more value to your ears, if the scenery is good, give more value to your eyes, if the seat is comfortable and so on.

The point: Give yourself more options to enjoy your life and you will begin to overflow with gratitude.