We all like to be known and be seen. Well, as long as how we’re known is a positive thing. No one likes to be the local pariah. However, there’s a more practical side of being known and seen. Life is going on all around us all the time. We’re not an island in it, we’re part of it, involved in it up to our eyeballs and beyond so what we do affects others and what they do affects us. How we connect with them or don’t, how we are known and seen affects the way in which we interact and are interacted with.
For example: Just a few minutes ago my next door neighbor had his door kicked in. Not by hooligans or terrorists or burglars, but by the fire department. Someone in the family left something on the stove and then everyone left. The burning and smoke set off the fire alarms and the fire department responded. Yay!!! However, they had no means of getting in other than kicking in the door. The fire was put out, the smoke pushed out of the house with several large fans, and the emergency was resolved with minimal fuss although I’m not sure about the extent of the damage.
The issue is, how to contact my neighbors to let them know. Neither I nor anyone else in our cul-de-sac knows their cell phone numbers. Because, you know, neighbors. If we want something we just go next door when they are home and ask them about it. We all know lots about them, but how to get ahold of them in an emergency? Not so much. Things could have been worse and it won’t be the most pleasant surprise when they get home, but the fire fighters blocked the doorway up so that no one can just go in and ransack the place. The door and the jamb are a total loss, unfortunately.
So when you think about how you are known, by whom, in what way, make sure that there are those around you in your physical proximity that know how to get ahold of you, just in case. That know you have pets and where they are…just in case. That know what might be precious to you, what to look for, what to save…just in case. It might never be necessary, it might never be possible to act on the information, but better to be known than not. There are some surprises we can do without.
