I desire to be remembered. To be truly loved, to be known. To be relevant. Don’t we all?

Years ago, there was a song I would listen to on repeat. At that time, the lyrics really resonated with me.

“I’m in here, can anybody hear me? Can anybody help? Can you hear my call?”

I subconsciously connected with the song because of my long standing battle with feelings of invisiblity. Let me explain. For as long as I could remember I struggled with feeling that while everyone around me could physically see me, no one could really see me. I hid in plain sight and felt as though no one truly knew me and I had convinced myself that was how it’d remain.

Now, as a 25 year old woman I find that some of those struggles are still present. I can see clearly now that over the years I have sought out romantic relationships to fulfill the deep eternal love that I longed for. I sought after perfection and accolades to be admired and appreciated, I was a performer and people pleaser and most recently to my horror, I turned to social media for a sense of relevance, to quench an unspoken fear that I’d be forgotten. Or worse, invisible.

After an 8 year hiatus from social media I returned to find that while so many features had been added not much had actually changed. Initially, social media was a way to keep in contact with distant loved ones. But somewhere between that original intention and 2022 it has become a place to show that we are all, despite the actual hell that we may be going through, “living our best lives”. Now, this post is by no means meant to bash social media, rather, to highlight a deeper issue that many of us struggle with. These platforms expose our desire and I’d argue, our need to be seen, heard, admired and appreciated and how we fill those needs in all of the wrong places. Some would sum these desires up as a result of being prideful, vain or conceited, but I disagree.

It is my personal conviction that these longings are actually given to us from God and therefore, can only be fulfilled through God’s love.

We desire to be loved and God says, “I love you with an everlasting love”.
We desire to be seen and God says, ”You are the apple of my eye”.
We desire to be heard and He says, “Before you call, I will answer.”
We desire to be appreciated and He says, “You are honored and precious in My sight.”
We do not want to be lonely and He says, “Never will I leave you and never will I forsake you.”

What I am still learning at this ripe old age (lol) is that I don’t have to fight to remain relevant. I don’t have to fight to be seen, liked admired, or loved. I don’t have to turn to the attention or praise of other people for validation. I have already obtained all of those things just by being me, just because I am known by Him. Even more, these gifts can never be taken away from me because they are found in God… and luckily God never changes.

Can Anyone See Me ? The Fight To Remain Relevant