I’m Losing My Eyesight and Gaining a New Vision

At the age of five, I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a genetic disorder that leads to vision loss and for which there currently is no cure. And by age 15, I was legally blind.

Even without my sight, I still had on blindfolds. I refused to use a blind cane. I didn’t want to be the “blind musician” the “blind spiritual leader.” I wanted to be “normal.” I was choosing to hide from the reality of my blindness.

I’ll never forget the day my sister told me I couldn’t drive. I had been putting off getting my license out of pure teenage laziness. Both my sister and my mom have RP as well, but they both drove until their twenties. So, driving felt like a shoo-in for me, as did living my life without needing a blind cane on a daily basis. I was living my life believing that anything that was true for my mom and my older sister would be true for me.

Boy, was I wrong.

Instead of owning my unique truth, I hid behind my curtain, hoping that no one would notice me bumping into poles or missing people reaching out for a handshake. I wasn’t just hiding my blindness — I was hiding the true Charlie from the world and from myself.

My reality is undeniable: I am a blind musician. I am a blind spiritual leader. And I am a non-driving, cane-using man who loves every inch of who I am. But it wasn’t until I began to gather groups together, with blindfolds on, singing our hearts out, that I realized we are all hiding from something.

I have always known that there is deep, magical healing in group singing. It has been at the core of every great civilization, culture and tradition, and that is no accident. I began leading Jewish music and working as a songleader when I was 13, and I’ve never worked another job in my life. Each day, I wake up, and my sole purpose is to sing with people, connect communities together through song and lead people into joy, discovery and healing.

In December 2018, after denying my blindness for 24 years, something in me shifted. I realized that my blindness was not a curse or something to hide but a deep blessing in my life. My blindness even began to bring me joy because it was a way of deepening my connection to myself and to the light of the creator. In this shift, I became aware of three truths: One, it was time for me to start using my blind cane on a daily basis. Two, my blindness was not a burden but a beautiful part of who I am. And three, I was finally ready to pull back my curtain and open up about my eyesight, own it and share my story as a source of inspiration in my music and work.

Shortly after, Singing in the Dark was born.

Singing in the Dark is a blindfolded singing and healing experience. From the moment you enter the room, you are without your sight, surrounded by music. Once seated, you don’t know where you are or whom you are next to. No one can see you, and you can’t see them. Within the first five minutes, you feel simultaneously alone in your emotions and deeply connected to a loving, collective community. It’s a sensory experience unlike one you’ve ever felt before.

Singing in the Dark is a blindfolded singing and healing experience. From the moment you enter the room, you are without your sight, surrounded by music.

(Image is me wearing a blindfold while leading Singing in the Dark.) pic.twitter.com/bApfBHFJ69

— Charlie Kramer (@CharlieKVision) October 5, 2020

There is something so liberating about singing without the judgment of your eyes. Miss a note? No worries. No one has any idea it was you. As I often say, “Loud and proud, strong and wrong. If you sing a wrong note, sing it louder.” At Singing in the Dark, failure is not only accepted but encouraged.

And yet, Singing in the Dark is much more than an opportunity to sing and meditate with a blindfold on. It is an opportunity to face the things we are hiding from, greet them with kindness and transform them into our greatest gifts.

When I set out on this journey, I never once imagined that I would lead from my living room studio through a computer screen. However, to continue this experience through the pandemic, we had to change some of the ways it operates. Of course, Singing in the Dark is different virtually. But, just like my blindness, being different also holds gems of hidden beauty waiting to be uncovered. Our first journey into the Zoom-osphere is on Saturday, January 23, at 5:30 pm PDT. And thanks to our partnership with Wilshire Boulevard Temple, our virtual Singing in the Dark gatherings are free and open to the public.

Here is my question for you: What are you hiding from? Sometimes, all it takes is a blindfold to uncover the beauty within those things we are too afraid to look at. 

Legally blind and with an acoustic guitar, Charlie Kramer unites, magnetizes and elevates the communities around him. A touring songleader, artist, spiritual leader and communal healer, Charlie has sung with communities throughout North America, Israel and Australia.