by Are we required to join? Are we made to create? It is necessary for us to belong to someone other than ourselves?
What happens when we are carved from each other and caved in a culture from which there is no escape?
When there is no social order of higher expectation for everyone in a neighborhood — where do the dreams and joys and pains of living end up being expressed?
When the revelation of disappointment
takes to the streets from the mind — what response must be provided to
protect community values and reinforce the context of appropriate
belonging?
In the clash between creviced passions of belonging — what does the sin wager?
What is left in the afterword of unrequited belonging?
we all belong like pat benatar said maybe a gang, church, cops or street living
arin! Ha! I wasn’t thinking about Pat Benatar, but her song does have a certain application for today:
Are you logged in?
if we don’t belong then it’s in the images that answer
forgot my password sorry ill look for it
We have grave questions in need of answering, arin. How do we interact with each other? If we don’t belong to anything, what becomes of us? Do we trickle down into murderers? Does our hurt ream us into the streets for expression on walls? Do we turn the other way and become punishers with shields? Or are we all going the wrong way and no matter what we do or how we live we all end up in dead end graves?
Ooof! Find your password so we can see your fiery avatar, arin!
Most people need to belong to some group or “identity”; they cannot survive well as individual. I believe this pack mentality is based on desiring not to be responsible for ALL their actions. Consensus reduces culpability – at least within our own thoughts.
Some can and do choose to be singular – the “lone wolves” and iconoclasts of our culture. Few of those actually end up outside a meme though. People gravitate to them and attach themselves to them. Sometimes this is good, often it is bad.
I think there is an innate need to belong to someone greater than the self, jonolan, and we need even more inclusion across the planet as technology and blogs and other social networking memes bring us all closer together to share moments of dismay and joy.
There are those who find success by creating a whole new meme and if they provide the right human rhythms they can find success even in evil deeds and criminal actions.
Hi David,
I think we belong to our core values that shaped us up – whatever they may be.
Katha!
Where do core values come from and what if there is no foundation of belonging set for those values to be immersed in someone?
Hi David,
No one comes without a foundation – it might not be a very good one though.
In other words, those values might not conform with the society.
Everyone has some experience, upbringing, understanding in life that shapes them.
If there is no foundation, there were is the belonging? What is one belonging to?
David! The “no foundation” is a foundation itself!
They are belonging to that “no foundation” concept.
You’ve stumped me with that one, Katha! So they belong to “no foundation” and that is to which they cling?
David!
If I believe I have “no foundation”, or I really don’t see any then I am bound to have some feelings – may be anger, resentment, void, numbness – whatever and that becomes my “foundation” which I will prefer to cling to.
Does that make sense?
Katha —
Isn’t your foundation your mother and her values — and beyond isn’t the school you attended as a young child the foundation of belonging that formed you today for better or worse?
Hi David,
That’s what I was trying to say – what if I don’t have one?
What if I had no family, no schholing background or something to cling to! Then I am bound to cling to the “feeling of void” – I guess.
Hi Katha!
I miss you so much when you’re busy and we can’t have these ongoing thoughtful conversations! 😀
I think if you didn’t have any of that you belong to no one but yourself and that makes you a dangerous outsider because you have no commonly shared values or sets of morality. You then live conditionally based on intuition and base animal instinct.
Language and community humanize us, but if you are without community you have no real ability for language expression and one then begins to live emotionally by the gut and not intellectually of the mind.
Hi David,
I know, I miss it too… 🙁
Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying – may be in a different way.
The “no foundation” I was talking about is basically a reactive approach.
We all follow our guts but that is always balanced with reasoning and solid “foundation” of values – if we have one.
Thanks for the deeper explanation, Katha! This is an important and fascinating topic for discussion!