The Tribe Experiment Day 8

Belonging

I’m looking to define that magical elixir that keeps tribes together: Belonging.

As we explore what it means to be a tribe, and what our needs are collectively, as a unit, I’m curious how you would describe belonging? And particularly…

What is the difference between belonging and fitting in?

Name a time you have experienced belonging. Was it with a place? A person? A pack?

How did it make you feel?

My deepest belongings (for a very long time) were mysterious, even to me. I rarely shared them with anyone, because I felt like a freak. It wasn’t with family or friends or even in nature that I felt most at home. STORY was my first home. In movies, in books, in tales told at the side of my bed from a voice loosened with age, I felt my first sense of belonging. Then it was art: paintings, sculptures, theater, dance.

It wasn’t until my 30’s that I began to experience belonging with a person. And strangely enough, it took me ’til almost my 40’s, after years of trying to fit in, judging myself, shaming myself (You’re too big! You’re too slow! You’re to fast! You’re too small! ) to experience a sense of belonging to my self. I still struggle with that. It’s a daily journey.

And so, the question remains, how do we belong more fully to ourselves, and to each other? Because if Mother Theresa is to be believed, that is the path to peace, and to a greater extent, the path home.