“It amazes me that we are all on Twitter and Facebook. By ‘we’ I mean adults. We’re adults, right? But emotionally we’re a culture of seven-year-olds. Have you ever had that moment when are you updating your status and you realize that every status update is just a variation on a single request: Would someone please acknowledge me?” ― Marc Maron, Attempting Normal
I once had a co-worker who would often question whether or not she was invisible.
Now before you call in for a straitjacket, she was speaking metaphorically as she struggled with the feelings (both professionally and personally) which Maron highlighted above – would someone please acknowledge me?
While the two of us would often joke about her feelings of being invisible, I knew there was some truth to her admission, and even understood how someone could in fact come to eventually feel that way.
Regardless of the circumstances, all of us as human beings want to feel acknowledged – to know that our contributions in an indifferent society have some purpose or meaning.
That the relationships we cherish and preserve with our time, our attention and our affections are recognized as invaluable to one’s existence.
Simply put, being acknowledged (whether at home or at work) makes people feel as though they matter, and I don’t know anyone who’s not searching for that in one capacity or another.
From the American Counseling Association:
“We all want to feel that we matter to others. That feeling of being needed, of being significant to others, of ‘mattering,’ puts meaning in our lives. We need others to pay attention to us, take interest in us, consider us important and care about what we think and do. It helps us understand how we fit into the bigger picture which lends meaning to our lives.”
How are you feeling at work, at home, with friends or family? Are you feeling invisible? Are you screaming out, “would someone please acknowledge me” and no one is answering?
Sadly, a great deal of people feel this way in our society.
I think it boils down to some people are oblivious to the feelings of others and therefore cannot grasp how providing any kind of positive acknowledgement is beneficial. But I assure you it is – even life-changing at times.
At work, at home, whatever the case may be. Take a moment to stop, refocus and listen. You just might hear someone asking, “acknowledge me”.
I acknowledge you my friend!