Well obviously she does, but what about me? Where do I belong? This has been a question that I’ve been revisiting on and off for decades. It also begs me to wonder—How many of us truly know where we belong, and why?
Certainly as the years have added up, comfort within my own skin and a genuine level of happiness have joined me wherever I’m living. Looking at my dog and knowing that deep cold and snow are her element, I’m still wondering what my element is. And is it just me, or are we as a species still longing to find our healthy place within the cosmos?
What are the factors that allow for a comfortable sense of belonging?
Growing up on Long Island, 60 miles out, I never took in what this really meant. Returning many years later and hearing the accents, seeing the ever present Italian last names everywhere—well something clicked, yes this is where I am from. These people are like me, on the outer front anyway. I remember feeling a comfort in this then—and also the feeling that I couldn’t live there again.
Today I’m thrilled and content with many elements of my return to this winter paradise, am happier than I’ve been as a person—and yet—the people here don’t feel like my tribe, my soul family. Our physical fitness and athletic prowess bonds us, but I don’t feel a spiritual connection. I do with the land though, it’s almost impossible not to here. My own sense of contentment? Yes—but true belonging? What would it take, both within me, and within a community for me to feel this? Can we belong anywhere? And what are we belonging to—our families, our towns, our land-base, our race, our species, our planet, our universe? So many layers of possibility.
Being with people who “get us” and that we “get” seems crucial during these rapidly changing times. Being with those who add fuel to our inner burning fires of transformation, a true joy. If this doesn’t occur within our immediate communities we are so blessed today to have the possibility of connecting with people all over the world virtually and this is an enormous gift. What would it really feel like though to be with a gaggle of kindred spirits, creating not only a thoroughly new way of relating to one another, but also a new world?
So am I “Be-ing Longing”? Can I “Be Longing“? Longing can have so many stops along the continuum and like most things a balance is probably preferable. We can become dysfunctional as we long for something, while also allowing our longing to take us to places we might otherwise never reach for. Is longing an inherent part of the creative process?
How do you relate to this idea of belonging? I’d love to hear what you think and feel about your place in the universe.
Our Deeper Truths 