Which wound is keeping you from becoming more visible?
Often we aren’t aware of how many invisible things we are surrounded with in our everyday lives. We take them for granted, like the air for example we breathe.
And then there are the burdens other people carry; mostly invisible to us. It could be a chronic illness or a financial hardship etc. We most often don’t know what even our friends are really dealing with.
Not to forget whole groups of people in society, which are basically rendered invisible. Like the homeless in our streets hardly anyone ever acknowledges.
In a way, when we talk about the complexity of visibility, we need to acknowledge the different aspects of invisibility first. Because when we focus on racism, ageism, ableism, homophobia etc. the fight for visibility turns into activism. It’s not just about being seen anymore, but about having a seat at the table. Making the world more just.
People, who are dealing with an invisible, chronic illness for example have to advocate for themselves, edging on doctors to diagnose them properly, caring enough to look deeper. To take their patients seriously, presenting a myriad of weird symptoms.
All examples about invisibility I have mentioned so far, make it blatantly clear. This isn’t just an individual matter, but a societal, as well as systemic one.
And then there’s us of course, the artists, creative entrepreneurs who’s work it is to make the unseen seen, the intangible tangible.
It’s kind of paradoxical, when we ourselves struggle with being visible on a personal level at the same time. Maybe we fail to show up regularly, sharing ourselves and gifts with others, while our very work is about making the invisible visible.
What an irony!
But if you already felt invisible and unseen as a child, it’s even more difficult. Because when you happen to put yourself out there and then there are only crickets, your post on social media didn’t get any engagement, then you turn into that ‘little, unseen kid’ once more. The one you so desperately wanted to leave behind, because it’s too painful to be reminded of not mattering.
When it comes to this deep seated feeling of invisibility it most of the times isn’t enough to do social media marketing courses, etc., which tell you how to become more visible, get your audience’s attention.
Instead it’s vital to take a closer look, at the parts of ourselves which tend to hide from others and what they are trying so hard to protect, to keep us safe. Often it is an outdated coping mechanism of ours.
For example, we might have stopped having a clear standpoint, a point of view, when we are sharing something of ourselves, for fear of bad repercussions.
We need to not only bring understanding to those hiding parts of ourselves, but be also gentle in our approach. Our journey to more authentic visibility should be embarked on with care, having validating support systems in place. And we also need to make it enjoyable, an adventure towards making an impact in this world. Have our voice count. However big or small it might be.
To summarise, when visibility is a deeper rooted issue, learning how to do your wonderful YouTube channel most likely won’t do the trick. Because our becoming more visible will coincide with finding ourselves at the same time. Meaning what we actually stand for, what our point of view is.
As pointed out earlier, we also need to take societal factors into account. Are we part of a fringe group, whose issues are mostly ignored? Or do we happen to be more introverted in a world that favours extrorevtism? How do we want to navigate those hurdles?
Authentic visibility represents a complex matter, including many different aspects. The thing is, once we know what we are actually dealing with, both on an individual as well as societal level, it’ll be much easier to find a way forward, creating the support we need for our adventure towards more visibility.
As usual, I would like to finish with a question:
‘What do you think is your main hurdle towards more authentic visibility?’
I would love to know.