Visibility in our world
Are we? and what does it mean...
Hello Dear Friend,
Welcome to another Sunday Letter.
This week finds me double jabbed, and although sore, I am grateful for the opportunity to have both the flu jab and my Covid booster. After our jabs, we met up with friends for a coffee, the first time we had met in real life for about a month, and it was lovely to catch up.
I hope wherever you are whatever you have been up to you have had a lovely week, full of love and laughter.
Visible vs Invisible
Last week I mentioned visibility and invisibility as a topic, and today I would like to discuss this a little more.
I have had a lot of conversations recently about being visible. This is going to be from a woman’s perspective of course, if anyone wants to add the male perspective I would be glad to hear it. It started with a discussion about how once a woman reaches a certain age, she no longer attracts as much male attention - wolf whistles, cat calls, stares, and bad pickup lines, I am sure you can relate to these. The overall feeling was one of relief that these things no longer happened, giving the women a sense of freedom and invisibility.
This led to a discussion about how invisibility was not a good thing either, I know, blooming women, we are never satisfied.
But this type of invisibility had a built-in gender bias, or so it seemed.
Because we were women it seemed expected that we would move out of the way of oncoming pedestrians at the park, mostly male, and mostly on their phones… The ladies said that there seemed to be an air of surprise if they just held their course and did not evade the oblivious person coming towards them, leading in most cases to a collision. They felt that as a woman they were obligated to be the ones to look out for everyone in their environment, to be the thoughtful, caring, and observant ones. Now that is a pretty broad strokes brush, and I know there are always exceptions to the rule, but it seems to hold some weight.
What are your experiences around this topic? Are you the one who moves out of the way? Holds the door for someone?
I am not advocating that you should no longer do those things, personally, I feel it is good manners, but maybe I am then falling into the societal norms I was raised in. That said, kindness is never wasted, even if it is not reciprocated, or even acknowledged, I feel it has an impact on some level and as I said, it is never wasted, always act with kindness and love wherever you can.
On my trip to London last week I encountered an entirely different form of invisibility. That of being a wheelchair user. Now, attitudes have changed over the last few years, I remember vividly taking my mum out in a wheelchair and if folks stopped to talk, they would talk to me, and not mum…
This was not the case last week, and the volunteers and staff at the South Bank Centre were incredibly welcoming and accommodating, a big thank you goes to them for their kindness and support. It was the first time I have been out in a wheelchair, and it was challenging for me, mostly in admitting that I needed one in the first place. Thank you to Jo, who made me see sense and encouraged me to get it sorted. We hired it from the Red Cross, and it was incredibly simple, although next time I hope to be able to use a ‘normal’ chair as opposed to the ‘bariatric’ chair which was heavy and very, very, solid…
You wouldn’t think that being in a chair would render you invisible, but it did. Suddenly I was in a sea of bodies, all going in or out of doorways, and no one seemed to look down.
Which meant they did not see me.
Now I am not a small person by any stretch of the imagination, and the bariatric chair was not small either, so really, you would have thought I would be immediately visible.
If Jo had not been there to help push me through the crowd it would have been a very different experience. I felt like I needed a horn or a beeper or something, just to say hello, look down, coming through, not for the attention, just so they would be aware before Jo took their legs off at the ankles with the chair…
Folks were oblivious.
I was also the only person attending the talk in a wheelchair, I’m not sure if that made a difference or not, maybe if there had been more chairs visible there people would have paid more attention. Who knows? I am not sure of a solution, if any, which could help in this situation, maybe just for us all to be more aware of our surroundings. Hmmm, that sort of brings us back to being the people who move out of the way and look out for others. Maybe we could find a way for everyone to think that way, what a wonderful world that would be.
Visibility when speaking your truth.
This type of visibility can be a little more challenging.
Between the confidence of youth and the ‘what the hell’ attitude of age, lies the murky land of what if they really see me and it can be an uncomfortable place to live. This land can leave us feeling discombobulated, (I do love that word) unsure of our footing, and worried about the reactions of others. I am blessed to have you reading or listening to my words, in this safe space and I am truly grateful for your presence here. It gives me the freedom to be as woo-woo as I like, to bring up topics for discussion, to share my journey to being a better person, and to encourage you on your own search for meaning in this life.
I am here to cheer you on, to encourage you to share your thoughts and feelings, I see you and I want you to know that I love you and want you to follow and share your passions, and your beliefs.
Things catching my eye this week:
Firstly a gentle reminder that *Dr. Shuna Marr’s Support and Protect Your Energy Course is starting soon. The first live class is on the 5th of November, and tomorrow is the last day for the special introductory price.
This article on Nir and Far’s website is about manifesting things into your life, I found it full of commonsense advice, what do you think?
I came across the Bloomberg Connects app this week - this is an app that allows you to visit Museums, Gardens, and Art Galleries from your phone - I haven’t tried it yet, but it is free and it looks fantastic. Let me know if you try it, and for those of you who are reading this and are working through the Artists Way by Julia Cameron, I think it may be a great way to have an Artists’ Date.
Until next time, as ever, may your angels and guides watch over you and protect you until we meet again.
Love and Light,
Tracy
PS - Don’t forget that tomorrow I will be sending out the monthly tarot reading for the subscribers of these letters, I hope you find it useful, and I am hoping to have it in your inbox by lunchtime at the latest. So until then, lots of love, Tracy x
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Thank you for reading and for subscribing.
Until next time, bye for now.
Links:
Nir and Far - The Surprising Science of “Manifestation”
Bloomberg Connects - an app that allows you to visit Museums, Gardens, and Art Galleries from your phone - I haven’t tried it yet, but it is free and it looks fantastic.
*Dr. Shuna Marr’s Support and Protect Your Energy Course
Anything in bold and underlined is a link to the relevant article or web page. None are affiliate links, just things I hope to benefit you, or people whom I admire and have worked with in the past.
Note: If there is a * these are affiliate links and may earn me a few pennies without adding to your cost.