The Weight of Hiding

To be seen is a choice. We spend our lives building walls, pulling blankets over our heads, or burying ourselves in the debris of the seasons, hoping to find a quiet place where the world cannot reach us. There is a safety in the half-hidden. It is a way of testing the air without committing to the light. We watch the world through the gaps, waiting for a sign that it is safe to emerge, or perhaps waiting for someone to notice that we are missing. The game of disappearance is never truly about being gone. It is about the tension of the wait. It is the breath held in the throat, the stillness of the spine, the quiet pulse of a creature deciding whether to reveal its eyes or sink deeper into the dark. What is it that makes us want to be found, yet keeps us shivering in the shadows?

Tisha Clinkenbeard has captured this quiet tension in her photograph titled Peek-a-who?. It reminds me that even in the simplest play, there is a profound hesitation. Do you ever feel the urge to disappear just to see who might look for you?