I still think about if I could have a super power which one would it be. It’s a question one thinks about from those early days of childhood when you actually have moments of feeling like you do have those super powers. You can almost fly when you’re soaring high on the swings that you feel like you might flip right over the top. If you close your eyes or squint a little you’re sure you are flying. Then there’s super speed that extra boost you get when you put on a pair of new sneakers and all of a sudden you know when you run to the corner all anyone sees is a blur because you’re going so fast. The one super power I can’t quite remember is whether or not I wished I could be invisible. Thinking back to childhood the idea of invisibility might have felt powerful, but looking back it seems like less of a super power and more of a horrible reality. Those memories of childhood when you wish you were invisible were never powerful moments. They were moments of horror, embarrassment, humiliation, or anger among peers, in front of teachers, with parents.
As an adult, the idea that invisibility could be a super power of any kind is perplexing. Sure there are moments when I wish I could be a fly on the wall at my children’s school, but that’s different than being invisible. As someone who often feels invisible, neither heard nor seen, walked into (and I’m hard to miss), misunderstood (except not because you weren’t listening in the first place), presumed, assumed, inferred, and spoken for, it is hard to feel anything but tears rolling down my cheeks when I think that anyone would wish to be invisible.
There are some perks of knowing one is invisible, you get to stop trying to please certain people. There’s no point in wasting one’s breathe when the person you’re talking to has already prepared a script in their mind about what you are saying. There’s no point in wasting one’s energy trying to be seen when the person looking at you only sees the caricature they’ve created themselves defining you. On the other hand, I don’t think there is any advantage of being invisible.
I suppose we are all invisible in some ways. So, the goal perhaps is to find a medium that allows us to be seen or heard. For some it is writing, for others dance, art, CEO, President, music. We all have a voice that can be heard, we just need to find it and use it.
We also all make assumptions, presumptions, and draw conclusions. In order to live in a technicolor world full of super heroes we could all do with a little more listening, a little more watching, and a lot more understanding. Okay so I’m not sure what this actually has to do with football stars, except that they all have some pretty amazing physical super powers and…I bet we have assumptions about each and every player and cheerleader, and half time performer that will grace the field today. I also bet if we googled a few of them we’d find some pretty interesting information about them that we wouldn’t have thought to be true but we never bothered looking before. For example, Kelly, one of the NE Patriots Cheerleaders has a degree from Harvard and is currently doing her Phd at Boston College. In addition to cheerleading Kelly Bennion teachers undergraduate psychology and is working on a doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. NE Patriot James Devlin #46 was choosing between Princeton and Brown for his college days. I am sure there are artists, singers, dancers, poets and many other hidden talents on the team.
Next time you meet someone, or see an old friend, try to open your eyes a little wider, listen a little more honestly, and really see the person in front of you.
Leah's Life: Pearls and Oysters 