Birthday wishes flood in. Notifications light up the screen. Hundreds of names, some familiar, most not, taking a second to type two words before moving on. A moment of recognition, a reflexive tap. It looks like connection, but is it?
Sometimes, it is not about the birthday at all. Sometimes, the attention comes because a post was seen, a selfie was noticed. Not because someone thought of you, but because you happened to appear in their feed at the right moment. A number grows. One hundred. Two hundred. Over three hundred now. That should mean something, shouldn’t it?
Thirty new followers. A flood of engagement. And yet, the names that truly mattered? The ones whose words would have meant something? Absent.
But not all.
Jeff, Tom, and Ollie remembered. They always do. No reminders, no scrolling past a post. Just the kind of steady presence that does not need a prompt. And that is the difference.
The truth is, there is a difference between being visible and being valued. Between being noticed and being known. Social media thrives on moments, quick reactions, fleeting engagement, but real appreciation is not measured in likes or comments. It is measured in presence. In the people who reach out, not because an algorithm put you in front of them, but because you exist in their life in a way that matters.
The ones who remember, not because they saw a post, but because they see you.
Because real appreciation does not need a reminder.
And now, over thirty new strangers have followed me. Because of a photo. Because, for a moment, I was visible. But what do I have to offer them? My words, my thoughts, the parts of me that do not fit into a snapshot? Will they stay for those, or was the image enough?
reflections of an unquiet mind 