Do You Belong?

31 Days of Consecutive Writing Challenge! Welcome!

I have accepted the challenge to write every day in October.  It is a daunting task to write 31 days consecutively about a specific topic.  To find the time to sit at the keyboard for 10 minutes each day, maybe 20.  Do I dare take an hour?  And really, who am I to write that in-depth about anything?

But seriously, when the challenge presented it, I knew immediately what my topic would be.  It’s something I have struggled with, and asked myself many many times, especially in the last few years as I’ve attempted to make the transition from suburbia to the farm.

Where do I belong?   

Do I belong here?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says the word, belong, is an intransitive verb.   And yes, I had to look up the word, intransitive, and then, transitive, before I could continue (also an intransitive verb).

The dictionary goes on to define the word belong as:

1.  to be suitable or to be in a proper situation.  

2.  to be the property of a person or thing; to be attached or bound by birth, allegiance, or dependency; to be a member of a club or organization.

3.  to be an attribute, part, or function of a person or thing.  

4.  to be properly classified.

However, the MacMillian Dictionary simple says, “to be in the right place and to feel happy and comfortable in a particular place or with a particular group of people”.

Yeah, I like the MacMillian version.  It just gets right to the core.  To belong I need to be in the right place with the right people.

How about you?

Do you belong?  

And see?  Because of that whole intransitive thing, I don’t even have to ask where or to whom.  We just need to belong.  Period.

Over the next 31 days, I am going to explore our deep need to belong. Where does that need come from? Does everyone have it? Does a culture or current event sway the need?   Do men and women feel the same way about belonging? I have so many questions!

I hope you stop by a few times during the month to see where my quest leads.

I’m hoping to find my people.  

I’m seeking to find my place.  

Join me, and possibly, together we’ll both find a place to belong.

Each day I will link up here on this page.  Come back and click on the day of the month to follow along.  Or better yet, subscribe via email to this blog, and you’ll get the newest post delivered right into your inbox.

1   Created Into Community

2   This is Not Where I Belong

3   A Grand Epic

4   The Pages of the Story Keep Turning

5   Is Green Acres the Place for Me?

6   All I Know Is I’m Not Home Yet

7   If We’re Honest

8   It Wasn’t Ever Going To Be My Home

9   I Am Never Enough

10 Her Head Knows, But Her Heart

11  I Tend To Hug The Wall

12  It’s Time To Put On Our Capes and Be Brave

13  Does That Shame Really Belong in Your Backpack?

14  Once You Are Real

15  When Your People and Your Place Are New to You

16  Where Shame, Mercy, and Grace Collide

17  Maybe Kindness is Within Our Reach

18  Everyone Loves Good Fruit

19  Don’t Steal Someone Else’s Perfect Place

20  12 Tips to Make That New City Your City

21  What Makes You Tick?

22  It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

23  Get Out There and Meet REAL People

24  Let’s Buy Some Whimsical Pillows

25  Afraid To Be Me

26  It’s Good To Be Me

27  25 Ways to not BE-long

28  I Am Like Them and They Are Like Me

29  61 Lessons from 31 Days of Searching to Belong

30  We Should Be Better Prepared

31  This Series Was For Me