I was touched to receive this comment today from the child in Central America when I wrote a personal note to ask about his days and share a bit of my own.
“I just want to be seen,” we hear from those who can feel invisible: newcomers to our communities, adults doing essential but often menial tasks, teens who are searching for their roles and identity.
As a new school year opens around the Northern Hemisphere, my mind turns to the opportunity repeated millions of times in thousands of schools – the opportunity to profoundly strengthen the lives of human beings young and old by simply taking a moment to fully become aware of each person.
Humans want and need someone to be aware of them.
Noticing — paying attention with eyes, slowing down or stopping to really look at someone — gets the awareness ball rolling. But it is language that affirms and strengthens our intent to let the person know they matter.
We ask how they are doing. We briefly share about ourselves and then ask a simple, non-intrusive question about them (and fully listen to the answer). We provide a sincere word of compliment or encouragement. We use our language, verbal and non-verbal, to connect, and infuse humanity into our connection.
THANK YOU when you strive to be aware of those in our families, communities, work and school. You know there’s hunger to be seen. There’s hunger to matter. Humans grow anxious and wither when feeling alone and unseen. Your awareness and outreach through language feeds souls, soothes loneliness, and relieves anxiety.
May you receive thanks from someone today as I did from this young boy. Today I know that he is glad and reaffirmed in his worth, because he knows that, even from far away, there is a person who is aware of him.
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