Enlightenment in darkness0

Blind Café builds bridges between blind and sighted worlds

In many ways, Rosh Rocheleau’s life evokes a Kerouac sense of wander. While touring as a musician in Iceland, Rocheleau literally stumbled into a darkened café and found himself enlightened.

“The waiters were blind, and they sent me in with a cane just by myself,” Rocheleau says. “I had to find my way in the pitch dark. I couldn’t see anything. It was a cool experience, and I just thought it would be great to bring back to Boulder. But I didn’t know anyone who was blind, so it took me maybe three or four years to find somebody who was.”

Years later, while attending Naropa University, Rocheleau steadily became connected to the blind community in Boulder and created the foundations of the Blind Café — a touring event that stops locally, as well as in Portland and Austin. The blind café has become an anticipated slice of culture in these communities. Rocheleau says he did the event just to try it, and did not expect it to turn into a sustainable business.

“I just kind of thought we’d just try it or do it,” Rocheleau says. “And then I was going to go on a trip — I happened to be in Big Sur, Calif. — and I was about to buy a ticket to Thailand, and I kept hearing this voice going off in my head [saying], ‘Go to Portland and start a blind café,’ and I was so unhappy not doing that, that I just went to Portland and started a blind café.”

The Blind Café also donates a portion of its proceeds to a local foundation supporting the blind community.

The Boulder Blind Café will be supporting the Boulder Guide Dog Puppy Raisers, an organization that trains puppies to be guide dogs for the blind.

Suspending sight helps take people out of their worries and into their present state, Rocheleau says.

“My understanding is that the fundamental principle is that people go in there, and because we don’t have our vision, we are suddenly like, ‘I don’t know how to do anything anymore,’ and the world is new,” Rocheleau says. “We have to engage and be more present and more aware and more sharp-thinking and mindful.”

The Blind Café seats patrons at community tables in a completely dark room. For many participants, this is the first time they have been unable to see.

“Chaos is actually part of it,” Rocheleau says. “It’s welcomed. I’m creating a situation where I want people to be uncomfortable — I want people to come  and be like, ‘I don’t know what to do!’ And all of a sudden they have to sum up that sense of courage that we all have inside of us when we’re faced with a challenging situation.”

The Blind Café is set up in the basement of a church. A blind wait staff helps those accustomed to sight — helping them walk, navigate and pour water in complete darkness. The event concludes with a musical performance from Rocheleau’s band, Rosh & One Eye Glass Broken, as well as speeches and a Q&A with some of the blind volunteers.

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