Invisibility and Open Minds

The topic of invisibility has been on my mind a lot recently. Invisibility is the sense that the majority of things happening in people's lives go unseen. I was led to this topic because I recently got my scoliosis back brace off officially after wearing it 20 hours a day for the past three years. This was a big deal for me! I ended a journey that came with countless obstacles in my middle school career. When I went to school the next day no one knew about this huge achievement or that I had been fighting it for so long. I had not talked about this challenge with people because I didn’t want to complain about my pain out of fear of what people would think of me. Looking back on it now, it makes me wonder about the battles my peers face that go unseen and that they don’t share. Too often middle schoolers and society as a whole forget that everyone has challenges and more often than not they are not on the outside. If we all were able to recognize this then we could help the people fighting silent battles alone. My perspective changed on this because I have been in that position but no one should have to go through these things alone. We need to normalize talking about our challenges and begin to create a space where people can uplift one another in times of need. The catalyst for change is people being willing to open up their minds to new perspectives.