A sense that other people are paying direct attention to you, noticing important and real aspects of you, and not rejecting those aspects.
This is rare in my experience because people mostly don’t actually pay attention to each other, they just notice some vague surface-level details that are easy to remember and not much else.
The experience of being seen often translates into a feeling of safety for me, something like “people saw me for what I am and accepted me; that implies that, at least around some people, I can relax my guards and not worry so much about giving a good impression, because these people are fine with me already”.
A sense that other people are paying direct attention to you, noticing important and real aspects of you, and not rejecting those aspects.
This is rare in my experience because people mostly don’t actually pay attention to each other, they just notice some vague surface-level details that are easy to remember and not much else.
I endorse this summary.
The experience of being seen often translates into a feeling of safety for me, something like “people saw me for what I am and accepted me; that implies that, at least around some people, I can relax my guards and not worry so much about giving a good impression, because these people are fine with me already”.