The Things That Become Invisible
- Alice Ranker
- Aug 8
- 2 min read
I was making my way through the house, straightening up, fluffing pillows, putting away some laundry, and moving from room to room to see what else I could address in the time I had set aside for this task.
When I walked through our bathroom, something caught my attention. It was a pink post-it on my mirror. I smiled as I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually seen it.
I was the one who put it there several months ago. I’m not even sure exactly when. I imagine it was after a therapy session where we talked about radical acceptance.I didn’t want to forget, hoping this daily reminder would eventually become a daily practice.
“Practice Radical Acceptance”
These words had become part of my everyday scenery. Even though I stood in front of that mirror every morning and evening when I was there brushing my teeth, washing my face, fixing my hair and make-up. Yet somehow, I stopped noticing it. It disappeared.
No, not literally. It just became so familiar that my brain stopped seeing it. That made me wonder, what else in my life has become invisible?
Familiarity, I think can be a gift and a challenge.
I am a creature of habit. I like systems and routines. I appreciate the comfort of knowing what to expect, most of the time. But the downside is that familiar things like my post-it, begin to blend into the background, just like my pink post-it note. They’re still there, I simply stop seeing them.
The more I considered this, the more I realized this doesn’t just happen with post-it notes. I think we can become so accustomed to our everyday lives that we simply stop noticing parts of them.
Appreciation doesn't always disappear. Sometimes our attention does.
I reached up to remove the post-it, at first I thought I should replace it, since I hadn’t really seen it lately. But then I thought twice and decided to leave it on the mirror and move it to the other corner.
I still needed this reminder. Now, it’s more than just a reminder to practice radical acceptance, it’s also a reminder now to pay attention. To notice.
Maybe practicing radical acceptance begins by fully seeing the life that’s already in front of us.
Much love,
This blog so resonates with me. So many things become invisible. I pride myself with being a noticer. And then I stop noticing the mundane.