The Gift of Truly Being Seen
Today, I received a hand written letter from someone I was once very close to.
It had been a long time since we’d last spoken, but their words carried a tenderness that bridged the distance between us. They wished me well—not with generic sentiments, but with care for the things that truly mattered to me. They remembered the little details I had once shared about what was important to me—things that might seem insignificant to others but held deep meaning in my life.
Then, they wrote about the recent US election from a deeply human perspective. They understood what it meant for me, how it might shape my experience of simply being. Being me—as a woman, as a person of color, and as someone whose values and choices are deeply tied to my identity.
Reading their words, I felt a deep ache of recognition. This person had once created a space for me where I felt completely safe to show up as my fullest self. They didn’t just accept me—they saw me. All my hopes, dreams, joy, fears, and even my broken pieces. They made it okay to be exactly who I am. And I realized that was the most precious gift anyone had ever given me: the gift of truly being seen.
These days, I can’t help but think of how rare and sacred that feeling is. So many of us are navigating spaces where we feel unsafe to be who we truly are. Fear of judgment, rejection, or disapproval weighs heavy because too often conformity has a higher premium than authenticity. Conformity expects us to “fit in,” dismissing those who don’t think, look, or sound like their imagined standard of belonging.
We all deserve to feel seen. To be embraced as our whole selves. And when someone offers us that gift, it’s a reminder of what’s possible when we choose to see the humanity in one another.
