The Weight of Your Presence

The Weight of Your Presence

By Kateb Nuri-Alim Shunnar

Funny thing about people some don’t like you for reasons they can’t even explain. Maybe it’s the way you carry yourself, the way you speak, or the fact that you refuse to shrink just to make them comfortable. But here’s where it gets interesting: when one person doesn’t like you, they somehow find another person who feels the same way. And before you know it, there’s a whole crowd, whispering, watching, and waiting for what? They don’t even like each other. Their only common ground is you.

Think about that for a second. Your existence, your essence, is enough to bring people together people who otherwise wouldn’t even sit in the same room. That’s power. That’s impact.

I’ve seen it firsthand. I’ve felt it. I’ve walked into spaces where the energy shifts as soon as I step in. Not because I did anything, but because I am. Because my presence is undeniable. Because my light, my truth, disrupts whatever fragile balance they’ve built for themselves. And instead of addressing their own discomfort, their own insecurities, they link arms with others who also don’t know what to do with me.

It used to bother me. I won’t lie. It’s exhausting being the center of someone else’s story when you never asked for the role. But then I realized something the enemy never gathers around anything that isn’t valuable. Nobody rallies troops for something insignificant. You don’t see people forming alliances to take down a crumbling house, but let a mansion rise, let something with foundation and strength stand tall, and suddenly, the crowd shows up.

It’s a strange kind of compliment, really.

Unintentional, but clear as day. The very people who claim to despise you can’t stop talking about you. Can’t stop watching you. Can’t stop reacting to your every move. And for what? To try and dim what was never theirs to control in the first place?

I remember my grandmother, Celestine, used to tell me, “Boy, if folks got time to gather just to talk about you, you must be doing something worth talking about.” And she was right. I think back to the times I worried about who was saying what, who had decided they didn’t like me that week. And I laugh, because now? Now, I see it for what it is. Proof. Proof that I matter. Proof that my existence shakes something in them.

So if you ever find yourself surrounded by whispers, by sideways glances, by people who seem to have made it their mission to misunderstand you, take a breath. Step back. And smile. Because they wouldn’t be watching if you weren’t worth watching. They wouldn’t be talking if you weren’t worth talking about.

And the funniest part? They don’t even like each other. Their whole connection is built on the foundation of you. Imagine that. You, without even trying, have the power to bring people together. Now, that’s something they’ll never admit, but you? You already know.