Hidden Places

The Hidden Places We Go When We Feel Unseen

There are places we go that don’t appear on any map. Quiet corners, shadowed spaces, small interior rooms where the world seems to shrink until it’s just us and the echo of our own thoughts. We don’t always travel to these hidden places on purpose. Sometimes we arrive there slowly, almost without noticing - other times we fall into them suddenly, like stepping through a trapdoor that only opens when life gets too heavy or when we feel too invisible.

Feeling unseen isn’t always dramatic. Often, it’s subtle - a missed text, a conversation where our words slide past unnoticed, a moment when the world moves on without waiting. It’s in these quiet stings that we retreat inward, seeking shelter in our private landscapes.

The Corners We Build

For some, the hidden place is physical: a car parked on a sleepy street at twilight, headphones on, world muted; a favourite bench in a park where no one knows your name; the aisle in a bookstore that feels like a sanctuary.
For others, it’s internal: memories we return to like dog-eared pages, daydreams that soften the noise, the comfort of imagining a life where we feel fully seen.

We craft these corners without meaning to. They become familiar. Sometimes they become too familiar.

The Strange Safety of Being Unnoticed

There’s a strange safety in feeling unseen. When no one’s watching, we don’t have to perform. We don’t have to be okay. We don’t have to hold everything together. 

In the hidden places, truth comes easier - our own truth, not the filtered version we offer to the world, but the same places that offer safety can also start to feel like small rooms without windows.

The Quiet Truth

Here’s the quiet truth most of us forget: feeling unseen doesn’t mean we are unseen.

There are people who notice us in ways we may never fully understand. Someone is watching the way we show up even when it’s hard. Someone has memorized our laugh. Someone remembers the small kindnesses we’ve forgotten we gave. We exist in the corners of other people’s stories far more often than we think, but the more important truth is this: we can learn to step out of the hidden places on our own terms. Not by forcing ourselves into the spotlight, but by opening a door - sometimes slowly, sometimes just a crack - and letting the world meet us where we are.

Finding Your Way Back

When you feel unseen:

• Speak, even if your voice feels small. Small voices still reach the right ears.

• Let someone in. Even if it’s one person. Especially if it’s one person.

• Return to your hidden places with intention, not retreat. They can be refuges, but they don’t have to be homes.

• Choose visibility on your own terms. Being seen isn’t about being loud. It’s about being honest.

You Are Not a Shadow

If you’re reading this and feeling like the world is passing by without noticing you, remember: invisibility is a feeling, not a reality. You exist, fully and vividly, even on days you don’t feel it.

We all have hidden places, but we all deserve to step back into the light.