RealityBypass

      Sometimes I wonder if the only person who notices me is the IRS. (Which I must admit, I’d rather wish they didn’t! AHEM.) For a long time I’ve managed to be easily forgettable, despite being 5′8″ tall and a rather outgoing person. In high school I had a tendency to be left off programs for Drama, despite putting in 20 hours a week at least! Often times award programs, if anyone was forgotten in the list it was usually me! Years later, a few class mates from high school recognized me as “Hey you were that kid who wrote the Star Trek script right?” which was a nice change, but in general I’m used to “Oh, wait, we had classes together?

      The sad thing is that it hasn’t changed much in adulthood. I have an amazing knack for being the one person whose head is cut off in pictures or whose name is conveniently forgotten on lists. In college my application to the honors college was lost twice until I finally gave up! Recently of everyone photographed for the musical promotional picture, you can only see 1/4 of my cheek if you squint at it!

      My new boss asked me the other day, “Do other people know all this about you?” and I came to the sad conclusion of “Probably not”. I’ve worked at the same job for 2 years with a small staff, and I think most of them would be hard pressed to say one thing about me. It makes me wonder if there’s something inherantly forgettable about me, or if it’s simply the fact that most people are very self-involved and thus forget MOST other people.

        I do, though, think this is one of the most basic desires of human relationships; being noticed. Knowing someone thinks about you enough to take an interest in your life and want to be involved in it and take the time to adjust their schedule to include you. It’s been a frustratingly rare thing for me. I feel like I’m always the one adjusting. Thankfully I have a few good friends I’ve kept in touch with over the years and a few I’ve reunited with who have made the effort in return, and it’s been delightful! My darling students, as well, while sometimes on the ‘loco’ side most certainly prove they notice me. I think, sometimes, the teens know more about me than most anyone in my life. It’s validating. 

My musings for the day:

          Seek out those quiet people in your life, you may be surprised just what interesting things they have to say. Or what an effect you may have on their life simply by taking the time to say Hi, what’s up with you lately? After all, you can never meet enough people, everyone has their own story and there’s a great source of inspiration waiting to be discovered.

     ~Kris