The idea of being invisible is one that we sometimes entertain as an unrealistic quality that could never truly come about in our lives; no matter how much we would want to be invisible at any given moment. Although we have those embarrassing moments where we want to disappear, in some ways, we are invisible ourselves. Some people are invisible in a sense that they don’t reveal their true selves, who hide behind the person that people want them to be rather than letting their true colors shine. We do this out of fear of rejection or even our own rejection of ourselves and in doing so, some tend not to feel the desire to be invisible because they have a sense of security in the idea of putting on a front of someone who they consciously believe that they aren’t.
Along with being guilty of being invisible ourselves, we are also guilty of not seeing other people through their sense of invisibility or lack thereof. There are times where some, myself included, don’t see someone who has either made themselves completely invisible only to deceive or has removed that sense of invisibility to reveal their true selves and the deception seemed better than the genuine truth. We see stories all the time on talk shows about people who are obviously led by deception, women and men staying with their spouse because they refuse to open their eyes and see what is really there: not love, but pain and suffering on their part due to the actions of someone they trusted. Another example of this is everyday misjudgments on a parent’s part regarding their children. There are many new trends that teenagers are starting to engage in that many parents are oblivious to. They refuse to believe that their children would partake in such reckless activities when in reality; they are going behind their back and doing these things and more.
The removal of this invisibility can also be deceiving since we aren’t accustomed to change and the deception is more comfortable than dealing with the truth. In this sense, we’re guilty of not seeing someone for who they really are under a negative perspective. We choose to believe that these negative aspects or actions weren’t done in order to maintain peace of mind within ourselves, especially when these changes have a strong enough impact that can destroy our outlook on our situation. One perspective of this is seen in many people who suffer from drug or alcohol abuse. Even thought those around them can obviously see the implications of their loved one’s addiction, the addict refuses to see and acknowledge that they have a serious problem that needs to be addressed promptly to avoid further consequences that rise in danger levels as time passes.
Although being invisible may seem to be a good idea to many people in their individual situations dealing with embarrassment or stress, we all have our own security blanket in having some kind of sense of invisibility to defend us, and even hinder us, from a harsh reality.
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I really like your blog. It really made me think about how I can act invisible and how I see other people’s sense of invisibility. I know I have wanted to wish that I was invisible when something embarrassing has happened to me or if I'm not fitting in with the crowd. I really like how in depth you got about it and I really liked your insight. My favorite part of your blog was about how parents see their child’s problems to be invisible and how drug addicts are invisible to their addiction. As a child I can relate with the parents thinking the things you do are invisible. All through high school my parents knew I went out to parties and had my share of fun but, they would never talk about it and just think I was a perfect angel and never partaken in behaviors that I shouldn't of. If my parents finally stopped being in denial and woke up they would feel so uncomfortable and probably wish they were invisible. I really liked how you talked about how the addict is invisible to their addiction and the problems it causes to their loved ones and themselves. I really like how you ended your blog, it made me think about how I perceive invisibility towards myself and others. You also gave a lot of good reasons why someone would want to be invisible and why some don't. You had a very good blog and I enjoyed reading it very much.
ReplyDeleteInvisibility is obviously reckless to some of us in the world. At times we want to be invisible, but in reality we are not. We are made of meat and bones and so we are a definite outlook to the world. However, if you think about it, we are invisible at times. Either we make ourselves invisible or we simple ignore a human being and act as if they were invisible. The example is a shy student in a classroom that will not talk at all in the entire semester and somehow will eventually be isolated and invisible. Another example is the guy living under the bridge where we drive by and act as if they were invisible, when they really are not. The world is full of problems and one great problem is looking at some of us as invisibles walking down the street. I actually agree with you where you talk about how invisibility is some kind of security blanket when we are embarrassed or stress, but we have to have in mind that we are not invisible and no matter how huge was the embarrassment or how huge is the problem we are promptly humans in action. You also gave an example about a married couple sticking together and blocking their view of what is really happening in the relationship. I really think this is more of an example for naïve blindness because no one is invisible here; it is more of a matter of choice to look away for the pain and the suffering and replace it with “love”.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog. Especially the explanation of invisability being hidding something that we don't want others to see and not seeing those things that others hide. When in a relationship I agree that this happens a lot, when the spouse knows the other one is doing things behind their back, bu refuse to see it. Love really is blind in these cases, and the things that are invisable are important, they can make or break somones relationship.
ReplyDeleteI think in a lot of cases the people who choose to be invisable or hide themselves have self esteem issues. They don't want people to think lower of them for something they do or something they have done in the past,so they hide it. The people who slip into the background, the ones in which you completely don't remember are usually the ones who commit suicide or are physically dangerous to others, and I think this is why it is important to make sure that those people are talked to. All of us go through things in life, and no one likes to do it alone. Just because someone is different from ourselves doesn't mean we're better than them, it simply means that things in our lives are different, and in realizing this we may be able to learn, or even better save a life.