Belonging

Belonging is one of the most powerful things in this world. Some people put all that they are away, hiding it deep inside ---- out of the idea that if people knew who they really where that they would no longer belong.  Others are compelled to do things that history and time will never understand because of that need to belong to their peers or their superiors. Belonging is a powerful thing.

It is what has driven some of the biggest wars, genocides, and mass crimes. The fear of being the other, being outcasts, the fear of not belonging. It compels some to seek and others to hide. It gives some the strength to grow and search for others like them- never giving up on the idea that they are not the only ones. While others take who they are and punish  themselves for it-  making sure that if they see themselves in  any one else-  that those people feel their wrath  as well. It creates conferences and wars,  it is the human  global  link that binds us all together. The need to belong and the crisis of self that happens when belonging is no longer possible.

If you are lucky- there is that one moment of grace- that one spot in life- that one place where who you are is embraced and cherished and loved. The entirety of you belongs, to a group, to an idea, to a person- to more than one.  Every bit of you - from your tears- to your morning breath- to the holes in your socks.  Your strength   and joy as much as your pain.

When that other person says - you are mine.   And you know what it is like to belong.  You are mine, I am yours. To feel that warm soft blanket of love and belonging cover your shoulders - and to hear in their voice that you are a part of them- a part of something bigger then yourself. That what happens to you matters, and that those words “you are mine” says that in a way that nothing else can.

I am blessed that I found people like me. I am blessed that my wife and my family love me and claim me as theirs. I am  so deeply blessed that others out there aren’t ashamed by what makes me different, and instead celebrate it and give me the ability to  walk  out of my door with pride and the internal  understanding that whatever I run into  out there-  I belong somewhere.

You are mine. I am yours.