How many people did you come across today? Passing by on streets? Standing next to in stores? Seeing each others words in digital spaces? I don’t even know how I would come up with that number, but I know it would be pretty large.
How many of them noticed you? Acknowledged that you were there? It can be so easy to become invisible in our world.
Now flip that. How many people in the world feel unseen? Invisible? There are people who have every physical and material comfort in the world who still feel totally isolated. There are also entire cultures and groups that feel unseen in their surrounding environment.
When that nun in Lady Bird says that Love and attention aren’t so different, I think that’s especially true to the person who feels invisible. And that means it’s easily within our ability to make someone feel seen and validated. We don’t need to share their experiences, their beliefs, or even their language. We just need to stretch outside our own self-concern.
This kid made my day, just by bringing so much joy to the piñata bash.