Feeling Invisible

While in the process of relearning the basic truths of life, I suddenly remembered something that piqued my curiosity a long time ago. Why are some people always invisible? This may seem a general question now, and I'll try to figure out a general answer, but the basis of it was in relation to YM. So let me rephrase: Why are some people always in "Invisible" mode? To help in answering my question, it just seems logical to gather my own experiences. So I tried logging on invisibly and waited... after a brief trial, I'm only a bit closer from where I began in finding the answer. From my experience, invisibility has it's perks. One, no one bothers you much, so it's nice if you're busy. Two, you can "safely" observe who are online without being drawn into lengthy conversations, assuming you're popular with other people. Three, there's just a certain sense of power in knowing who's out there and knowing that they don't know you're there, something akin to living out a spy fiction fantasy. Anyway, these are the things I've observed for now.

Moving on to the general. There are two sides to invisibility. One is by choice, as a means to avoid detection. The other is by consequence, something that just happens. Let me explain. The first type of invisibility happens quite often. It's often called by other names like a "getaway", a break, or time for oneself. It's when we actively seek not to be seen in order to do something important, personal, or contemplative in nature. The second is much more common, but sadly, denied by a lot of people. The second is consequential. We really don't have a say in it when it happens to us. Now the focus or choice shifts to other people. What do I mean? The second invisibility is when we are ignored, ostracized, or even forgotten. This is when we're too ordinary or too common to interest others. It even borders on apathy and indifference. I'm finding it hard to explain right now because even though a lot of people have experienced such a thing, the words to describe it properly are somewhat non-existent.

So there. I don't think I've answered my question fully, but at least I've thought about it enough. So where do I stand? Well, both actually. And I guess everyone else will, is, or have experienced both at some point. It's just one of those things that happen that nobody can seem to figure out how or why it did.

Right now, I am feeling invisible.