When visibility is not enough

Silvia Destro

Have you seen Hirayama, the main character in the movie Perfect Days, a Japanese-German co-production released in Italian cinemas in 2024? He lives in a tiny house. He gets up early, waters his plants, and enjoys his coffee at a leisurely pace. He gets into the van that takes him to work. On the way, he listens to music and watches the light filtering through the trees. He spends his days cleaning public toilets in Tokyo, places of passage, where people come and go. His days follow a strict routine: coffee, work, listening to music in his van, and reading a few pages of a book before bed. At first glance, his life seems “invisible”. Yet, Hirayama is happy. Why? Because even if the world isn’t applauding him, he is truly present both to himself and to others, in an authentic way. Today, we often make a big mistake: we confuse visibility (how many followers we have or how successful we look) with recognition (mattering to someone). Visibility is quick and shallow: people see you, but they don’t really know you. Connection is deep: someone recognises you as a unique, irreplaceable person. Visibility demands observation; recognition demands encounter. The former…