SAWUBONA

This Zulu greeting is a truly thoughtful way to acknowledge someone.
It means ‘I see you’.
The response is Ngikhona, 'I am here.'

I first heard about this greeting listening to an audio and more recently found it in a Ted Talk by Susan David.

Everyone wants to be seen, heard and understood.
It’s a basic human need.

Unfortunately, making eye contact is quickly becoming a lost art.
Our gazes are glued to a screen instead of seeing who is standing right in front of us.
Communicating via text has replaced real conversation . . . even between people inside the same building!

Social Media is an oxymoron that charades as a connector but in reality offers a virtual fake façade. The connection we think is at our fingertips is facilitating a divide that is driving us to lose touch with each other and the real world. Too often we only see a highlight reel of someone’s life that makes our reality pale in comparison.

We turn to likes, shares and followers to satisfy our insatiable appetite for attention . . . to be seen, heard and understood.

Instead, we only need to look at who is right in front of us.

Sawubona.
Ngikhona.