Not long ago, I sat with a group of amazingly bright women contemplating the meaning of belonging, of finding community. We used different words to paint a picture of what belonging looked like, but at the heart of the matter, we were mostly saying the same thing.
We started out by separating the word into its two component parts and pondered the brilliance of longing to be as an apt description of a sometimes-elusive concept. We wondered if belonging was simply the opposite sense of feeling untethered or disconnected.
We weren't sure whether feeling like we belong to ourselves is a prerequisite for belonging or if feeling like we truly belonged somewhere is what leads us back to ourselves. As our friend Seanna so beautifully concluded, "Belonging lives as a seed planted in the deep, tender soil of our soul and grows there, wrapping its tendrils around our heart each time we create a core memory of being included, being seen, being held, or being loved." May you belong to yourself, always, and may you find belonging in a community with healing and joy at its center.
You deserve nothing less.