Acknowledged, Invisible, Valued

We all want to be acknowledged, to feel that we are welcome and wanted, that we bring something to the table, that we have value. We want to be invited into community, to be accepted.

We fear being invisible, being ignored or dismissed, unaccepted, unwanted, and inadvertently devalued. We fear being overlooked and being pushed to the outside, forced to look in but not allowed inside.

It’s a simple act, to acknowledge someone: it’s a nod, a smile, a handshake, a voiced “hello” or “hi”. It takes little effort, but it in turn communicates acceptance, love, value. What begins as superficiality has the potential to bloom into an invitations of community.

We all crave intimate community. God designed us to be connected, to fellowship, to bear one another’s burdens. We were not designed to be alone or isolated.

So why, if it is so simple, do we hesitate to acknowledge? Why do we limit or deny community to those around us? Why do we stop short?

Sometimes we are too busy, sometimes we are comfortable in our own community and have grown complacent, and ironically, sometimes we are afraid to reach out in fear that we won’t be received.

We all want to be valued.

The last few years of my nomadic life have resulted in many social experiences. Some have left me feeling acknowledged and some have left me feeling invisible. In retrospect, I am grateful for all of them. Both the feelings of acknowledgement and the feelings of invisibility have taught me so much about the importance of healthy human interaction, about my own value, and the innate need for true community.