Jim's Fields of Observation

I like to think I’m a good-natured guy. I enjoy laughing, and I thoroughly enjoy making other people laugh. I also struggle with clinical depression, so I’d like to think I can appreciate life’s humorous moments all the more. When I encounter sad situations (and sometimes serious ones, though not as often) I usually respond with humor.

So perhaps it is then because I consistently react this way that I get that kind of feedback from others, too, when they encounter sad/serious situations from me. The other day, I updated my Facebook status to say that I felt “really invisible”. There were a number of small encounters here and there, and my reaction to the sum total of these encounters was to feel insignificant. George-Bailey-on-the-bridge-before-he-met-Clarence insignificant. It was a small cry for help, to reach out and ask for feedback that I indeed mattered to someone.

Image via Wikipedia

The responses were not quite what I was expecting. Of the seven replies I received all were joking. Perhaps my friends were wanting to cheer me up; the impact it had on me was “get over it.” Not he impact you want to feel when you are in need of feeling significant.

So, what’s the point? I’d like to kindly ask everyone to take a few moments in our hyper-connected, social media-infused world to consider what others are saying in their tweets and status updates. It can be hard to tell what far-reaching impact you can have on someone by just reaching out in a simple and kind way.