The idea of presence can refer to the physical attendance of a person at a place: "The presence of the guitarist on stage surprised the audience."
Discovering the etymological origin of the term presence means having to go, symbolically speaking, to Latin. And it derives from the word presentia , which means “quality of being ahead” and is made up of three different parts:
• The prefix pre- , which can be translated as “before”.
• The verb esse , which is synonymous with “to be”.
• The suffix -ia , which is used to indicate “quality.”
Concept of presence
Presence is a term whose most frequent meaning is the reference to the condition of someone or something found in a certain place .
For example: “If my presence in this room bothers you, I can leave” , “I hope that Dr. Kauro will honor us with his presence at the next conference” , “The presence of the player on the playing field went unnoticed since he entered very little contact with the ball.”
Physical assistance or sensation
Presence, therefore, usually refers to a person's physical attendance at an event or space.
The concept, however, can also be used symbolically to name the feeling that someone absent is, in some way, in a place: “Grandpa died ten years ago, but I still feel his presence in the house.” , “I'm sure that Paul McCartney, some nights, must feel the presence of Lennon and Harrison on stage.”
Expressions with the term presence
In the same way, we cannot ignore the existence of expressions that are frequently used within a colloquial environment. Specifically, one of them is presence of mind , which is used to record that a person is serene and calm in the face of adversity or a fortunately unexpected event.
Of course, we must not forget about appearance . This is a term used to refer to someone who has attended a specific appointment but stayed there for a very short time. An example of this could be the following: “Juan made an appearance at the funeral of his former boss.”
The notion of good presence is associated with subjective issues, although the concept is usually linked to elegance and neatness.
The appearance
The notion of presence, on the other hand, indicates what the appearance of a person or thing looks like. “Good presence” is associated with beauty , elegance, neatness or presence: “I love Javier's presence: he always wears a suit and uses gel in his hair” , “Employee is requested for administrative tasks. Requirements: computer skills, command of English and good appearance” , “The Eiffel Tower has an imposing presence in the middle of Paris” .
The concept of good presence , on the other hand, is subjective , since it responds to a series of conventions and, why not, the whims of each person or organization that demands it or claims to notice it in others. In general, in both Western and Eastern cultures, dressing in a suit, wearing a tie, wearing short hair (for men) or tied up (for women), in addition to respecting personal hygiene and showing a certain posture and way of speaking and addressing others is synonymous with good presence.
The superficiality of good presence
In short, except for the way one expresses oneself, most of the aspects that are taken into account when judging a person's presence are superficial. It could be said, therefore, that a mother who drowned her children in the bathtub because she could not bear their cries but who attends court dressed in a suit and with her hair tied up has a good appearance, while a young man who is demonstrating against of animal abuse in shorts and a holey T-shirt, on the other hand, is synonymous with a bad appearance.
While this is an extremist example, it serves to emphasize how arbitrary and superficial the idea of good looks is, which overlooks a person's fundamental traits and labels them based simply on what a mirror or camera might perceive of them. photographic. In addition to how absurd and dangerous it can be to trust a murderer just because she dresses well and distrust a charitable soul for not wearing designer clothes, giving so much importance to good appearance can have other consequences.
Nowadays there are many organizations fighting against discrimination, but it is still common for a teacher to despise a student if they have their hair dyed in unconventional colors, or if they wear piercings or clothes considered out of the ordinary, as well as companies that reject applications of employment to individuals whose presence they do not find satisfactory, regardless of their skills and experience.
Different publications
We also have to emphasize that “Presence” is the title of a digital mental health nursing magazine, which is published biannually and whose objective is to address from different areas what would be the care of people who have mental problems or illnesses.
In Spain, a publication is published that includes both recommendations for nurses or relatives of the aforementioned patients and the latest news regarding their treatments.
«Presència» , finally, is a publication created in 1965 that is published in the Catalan language and is part of different newspapers distributed in Spain .