Week 88 - Sitting in the Power

Belonging

by Guest Host, Nancy Bragg

"True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply, that you can share your most authentic self with the world." Brene Brown

Brene differentiates between "fitting in" and “belonging.” In order to “Fit in,” I would need to change myself to be what I think others want me to be as a way to be accepted. On the other hand, “belonging” means I can be myself and be accepted or even embraced for who I am.

Like all humans, I have a need to belong. In Brene’s interviews, people almost always talked about belonging in conjunction with love. People who embrace me in love, create a space for me to be nurtured, grow, and belong.  

I embrace myself and am true to who I am. I am willing to be vulnerable; to be uncertain, take risks, and expose my emotions. That puts me in a place where I can build meaningful relationships with those, who are also being themselves. When I build meaningful connections, it reinforces my own sense of belonging. With a sense of belonging, I create space for others to belong, by welcoming them for who they are. This is an ongoing process that takes time, so I engage in the challenging spiritual practice of being patient.

I like to seek connection and belonging, in groups and communities with values and interests similar to mine. Exploring my inner world is important to me and others in this group. Shirley has created this sacred space for us to be silent and reflect on our inner and outer lives.

Experiences of belonging often soften the feeling of isolation or being alone, and make glimpses of oneness more accessible. When people feel deeply seen, connected, or loved, the rigid boundary between self and other can relax.

A sense of oneness can create a broader form of belonging. If I experience myself as fundamentally connected to humanity, nature, or existence, belonging no longer depends completely on personal belonging. Everyone is part of the whole. Everything is interconnected.

Perhaps we belong to something larger than ourselves.

 Belonging by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer

And if it’s true we are alone,

we are alone together,

the way blades of grass

are alone, but exist as a field.

Sometimes I feel it,

the green fuse that ignites us,

the wild thrum that unites us,

an inner hum that reminds us

of our shared humanity.

Just as thirty-five trillion

red blood cells join in one body

to become one blood.

Just as one hundred thirty-six thousand

notes make up one symphony.

Alone as we are, our small voices

weave into the one big conversation.

Our actions are essential

to the one infinite story of what it is

to be alive.

When we feel alone,

we belong to the grand communion

of those who sometimes feel alone—we are the dust,

the dust that hopes,

a rising of dust, a thrill of dust,

the dust that dances in the light

with all other dust, the dust

that makes the world.