Out of Sight – Out of Mind

At the lunch break, I joined my colleagues to go to cafeteria. There were 5 of us altogether, but then one colleague asked us to go ahead, he would join a bit later. The rest 4 of us went and stood in the food counter queue. I got my meal first and headed in search of vacant table. I found a 4 seater table and occupied the same, thinking we were 4 of us. The other 3 colleagues joined me in the table. The 5th guy did come after some time, but then he had to sit in a nearby table. All of us had forgotten about the guy who was out of sight at the lunch queue. This episode instantly reminded me of the catchy phrase that one of our friends keeps iterating several times: Out of sight – Out of Mind.

He uses this idiom in the context of being away from the corporate head office or the power center. When you are away from the center, somewhere else in a remote geography, doing whatever required for the company, you will still be overlooked. The simple reason being you are not in sight. Out of sight from the management team, out of their minds too, probably. This seems to be the reason why someone at the headquarters manages to constantly grow up the ladder, as compared to the satellite offices. Stay in sight, stay in mind.

This idiom probably also explains why long distance relationships don’t work. Be it friendship, love or other relationships. When we live together or frequently keep meeting certain folks, they will always be in our minds and form a so called social circle. When we change schools, jobs, houses or move to new geographies, slowly but surely the existing social circle starts to disintegrate. We meet up new friends and now they are in our minds, again on a temporary basis. Change is the only constant, they say, and we need to keep moving on. Just enjoy the new relationships as they come, nurture them well & don’t brood on the ones you lost touch with, this is the way of life.

Another case where this idiom applies is the sad demise of your loved one. Although they go out of sight, they continue to occupy your mind for a good amount of time. But again, good or bad, nature takes its course and slowly they slip away from our minds. Spend as much quality time as possible with loved ones is the new mantra during these uncertain covid times. Enjoy the wonderful sight of your kids playing, your parents animatedly sharing their piece of advise & thoughts, how beautiful or handsome your partner still is :-), friends cracking up jokes and making those silly faces, fill up your minds with all those visual moments. Keep in sight, keep in mind!

This is probably the reason why video call has gained more traction lately, in personal circles. Although the credit must go to the technology that has upped its game in terms of connectivity and devices, the main driver for a video call seems to be a desire to “see” the other person, observe their expressions and body language. A better communication, one that relishes the mind much better. One of my aunts recently told me, thanks to Video call, we don’t feel like we are living miles apart. Adding “sight” into remote communications has got remote people more closer than ever before. Now, isn’t that a great thought? Add sight, give wings to the mind.

I had always wondered which one of the five senses is the most critical. What kind of handicap is the most cruel of them all? A dumb and deaf person cannot hear or speak, they cannot enjoy a good music or speak their minds out. However, they can still enjoy the beautiful sights that nature has to offer. A blind person, on the other hand, although can hear or speak, will be quite limited in the mind without the eyesight. Sight heavily influences the mind. No wonder they say, “Seeing is believing“! So, Eyesight, in my opinion, is truly the best gifts of nature! Lets count our blessings, and take a pledge to help the unlucky others in whatever way we can.