When I was moving out of my house in Iowa recently, I was fortunate to find a wonderful man to help me take things to the dump to recycle that I couldn’t lift myself. As we drove past his sister’s house, he told me that she paints. He said that her house is filled with her paintings. I asked if she had them in any of the galleries in our small town. He said no, that she never showed them to anyone. She lives alone and does childcare for a living. As he spoke, I felt that familiar ache—the one that comes when beauty is alive but hidden.

There’s a movie called Maudie, a true story of an artist in Nova Scotia. Maudie was what they call a folk artist (another word for an artist without formal training) and was discovered by accident when a wealthy New Yorker saw her paintings displayed in the windows of her tiny house. Maudie painted for herself, not in order to be seen. But she was happy to share her paintings too. What moved me most was not that she was discovered—but that her joy was never dependent on being seen. I highly recommend the film!

Visibility in the Culture

• Who gets seen, who doesn’t.
• Who feels safe to be seen? Who doesn’t?
• Who decides what is worthy of being seen?

Take a breath. Let these questions land.
 
Visibility in our personal experience

• Do we see ourselves clearly?
• Or do we see ourselves as others see us?
• What does feeling invisible feel like?
• Are we meant to be seen?
• Do we long to be seen?
• Is this from ego or from Heart?

 
I’ve written about visibility many times. In the Find Your Voice Journey, Becoming Visible is the seventh Practice Portal—the final step of the hero/heroine’s journey, when the gift is no longer held privately but offered to the world. I’ve shared more reflections on this theme in an earlier piece.

 
Sometimes what we experience as personal hesitation is actually something we’ve learned from the world around us. What if our society is structured to smother our gifts, our voice? It is, by the way.

The man whose sister’s paintings were hidden from the public was a recovered addict. A wonderful, conscious man going to school to become certified to help other young people. He’s married and has three kids. He has to work full time in order to support his family and goes to school and studies when he can. His job is a factory job. He can’t get approved for a mortgage though he’s paid rent for years that is more than a mortgage. The system is set up to keep him in his place. 

I share this not to blame or harden us—but to illuminate what so many live inside of every day.
 
These times

As we watch the empires collapse, as we watch those in power being disgraced without any accountability for their actions, it’s more important than ever that every single one of us who lives in our hearts and values equality and justice for every human have the courage to be seen. To let our deepest wisdoms be heard by others. To take time to explore for ourselves what it is that wants to come forth from us at this time.

May we listen carefully for what is asking to be born through us now—and trust that it matters.

“No one is free until everybody’s is free.” Fannie Lou Hamer

Share on Facebook