SPEECH AT INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR AND CLINICAL OPHTHALMOLOGY BASEL

Hello everyone, my name is Laura and I’m here today to talk to you about me. I want to tell you that I am very excited and honored for this opportunity. I am not used to speak in front of many people. I’m used to talk about my life, it’s something I love to do: share my story.

I am not accustomed to speak English, please forgive my emotion and my imprecision. First of all I want to say thank you for everything you do. Our future is in your hands. Every day you dedicate your time, your life, your work to make our future better. To give us the hope to maintain our sight or maybe, one day, to recover it. For all this I say thank you with all my heart.

I cannot deny you that sometimes my life is not easy, there are days that are more difficult than others, there are times that are more difficult than others. Sometimes I get demoralized, sometimes I really get angry, especially with myself when I don’t see something and I bump into it. Our cities are littered with architectural barriers. I am lucky to still have some autonomy. But I often “meet”, to put it mildly, trees and poles along my road. Many years ago, even my husband I met him in this way: I bumped into him! But this is another story…in these cases first I’m sorry then, as always, I laugh! Often my daughters make fun of me when our dog, knowing that I am about to run over it, runs away.

In short, I can tell you my secret: what I have tried to do in life is to transform tragedy into comedy, thus trying to make my burdens lighter.

I consider myself a survivor. I am the victim of a genetic error but I have never felt like a victim. This is a psychologically important difference! It puts you in a certain kind of attitude. My problem, my illness have inevitably conditioned my life and they still condition it. It would be unthinkable for me to say that this is not the case. All the work I have done in my life has been to become aware of certain aspects, and believe me the hardest thing is this: to take into account your limits, accept them and transform them into something else. The difference between a survivor and a victim is precisely this: the survivor is that person who has transformed what happened to him, his experience, into something constructive for himself and for others. Sharing thus becomes a creative and therefore therapeutic act. I think it’s a little bit like an artwork: when a painter or an artist creates it, that thing no longer belongs to him. A poem no longer belongs to the poet who wrote it, it becomes everyone’s. Then it becomes a powerful act and therefore it is therapeutic, because your pain is no longer yours alone.

You probably already know that I am a yoga teacher. It is very hard to explain in a few words this ancient discipline. I can say that yoga indicates a way to detach from the suffering of this world, to know and improve ourselves. Through Meditation, the practice of awareness, taking the attitude of the observer, of the witness; we are able to take note without judging. This allows us to have a certain detachment, a certain distance. Everything flows and we can feel that we don’t need anything else.

I have talked about many issues that are really close to my heart. I would like to close my speech with an anecdote.

One day a doctor told me that I seemed very proud of my disease. Looking him straight in the eye, I replied that I could happily have done without it. I don’t feel better or special just because I have a disease. I don’t think it was an opportunity, on the contrary I would say in some ways that it was just a difficulty. However, I admit that this diversity somehow allowed me to see life with other eyes. I have devoted a lot of work to the concept of diversity, trying to fight against discrimination, to make it clear that behind every disease there is a person, a life, a story.

Let me tell you something very personal… When I think that maybe one day I will lose my sight and I will no longer be able to see the beauty of this world, I try to remind myself that beauty is within me and no one will ever be able to steal it.

I am very grateful to the people who invited me here: Carlo, whom I have known for many years, Clara and finally Giacomo. I thank my husband Alessandro for accompanying me here and for being by my side with our daughters Emma and Chiara. It won’t be easy to live with my problems. Sometimes we feel helpless when we can’t help the people we love. I’ve learned not to take anything for granted. This is why I try to live every moment intensely. I could poetically say that I enjoy every sunset that I am lucky enough to still be able to see!

Now I would like to leave space to you. If you have any questions or if you want to share your thoughts with us… I will be very happy and honored.