Blame it on the weather or perhaps the post Christmas Blues, but the last several days I have been melancholy. That is far from my usual optimistic self. I have felt invisible, tucked away in my quiet corner, left to do the many things that need to be done with no fanfare or hoopla. Melancholia most always turn to introspection. It helps me see more clearly. Sight is a most important quality when dealing with issues of invisibility.

Somewhere behind the scenes of every life are the invisible ones. The people who cook and clean up. The people who pay the bills and do the laundry. The people who get the groceries and sweep the floors. The people who turn the lights on.

I am ashamed to say that most of my life I take for granted the things that are done around me and for me. I haven’t always noticed the invisible hands that make things go.

Here’s to the people who are boxing up decorations and cleaning out gutters, raking leaves and changing windshields wipers. I see you today. I wish I would pay more constant attention. I wish I’d always look until I see. I wish to acknowledge and thank you.

Invisible. All the many things that are done to make a life often go completely unnoticed. Perhaps not newsworthy things. . . easy to take for granted …but life sustaining things all the same. I see them. Millions of interactions that are done out of love. Why are they invisible? Perhaps because they are so frequent.

Today I see you putting your life on hold to care for a loved one. I see you making all the favorite foods to make your kids happy in the brief moments you have with them. I see you making yet another doctor’s visit with the one you love. You ask for nothing in return. It is offered as a gift, and a prayer. It is done to know that those you love are happy and healthy. I feel the whispers of your offerings and I recognize them now. I look back and understand the countless little acts of love that were given to my benefit. I see them now, because I too am an invisible force, giving what I can, when I can.

It can be both exhilarating and defeating to be invisible. In moments of giving when you see the needs and know that you can meet them; when you know you have made a difference invisibility is power. In moments when you have given all you have and it is ineffective, taken for granted, or rejected, invisibility is a prison.

In this New Year, I am committed to taking joy in invisibility. Not only will I seek to enjoy the small acts that make up a life. I will endeavor to see the multitude of invisible acts that surround me every day. I will notice. I will reflect. I will share a smile, and say thank you. Sometimes, just a moment of acknowledgement is enough to make all the difference.