Being Seen
In my 20s, I have noticed a strong desire among my peers to be fully seen. For who they were, who they are, and who they want to be. To feel completely understood. I find so much validity in these desires.
But needing another person to completely understand me while I am still in the process of understanding myself has always felt limiting, especially when I don’t want that process to end. Over the past years, I have enjoyed how the world speaks to me, constantly mirroring back versions of myself that feel truer than the person I once thought I was.
There is something freeing about not arriving at a final understanding of myself. About letting experience keep revealing me to me.
Because if we are constantly becoming, why do we need to feel completely seen?
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Asking this with a genuine curiosity.
Maybe the issue isn't the desire to be seen by others but the ways many people let others' definition of seeing become their full selves. Many individuals fall back into that and process their lives through someone else’s lens, or a limiting lens of their own (me). Allowing versions of themselves to only feel true through curation.
Being seen can also mean so many different things. It can mean being understood, accepted, witnessed, remembered, admired, or simply noticed. It can mean wanting someone to recognize your pain, your growth, your intentions, or the person you are still becoming.
Or to be seen without becoming fixed. To be known without being concluded. To let other people witness ourselves without feeling as if we’ve handed them the authority to tell us who we are.
I don’t think I want to be unseen. I'm more interested in questioning what feels most true and authentic to me.
