Dumbo Feather – July 2019

On Belonging

Wewenttoourpartnersandaskedthem,

“Wheninyourlifehaveyouexperienceda sense

ofbelonging?”Here’swhattheyhadtosay.

AmandaRichman

EthicsAnalystatAustralianEthical

Thefirstmemoryofbelonging

thatspringstomindisfromwhen

I wassix.Therewerekidsmyage

livinginthehouseseitherside

ofours.Wecamefromdifferent

culturalbackgrounds(Greek,South

AfricanandJewish)butdifferencesbedamned,wesharedour

backyards,ourclothes,ranthrougheachother’shouses(the

doorswerealwaysunlocked)andkneweachother’sextended

family.Evenourpetswerebestfriends.

AnothertimeI hada strongsenseofbelonging,andit was

triggeredbysomethingcompletelydifferent,iswhenI was19.

WhilevisitingfamilyinIsraelI endeduphavingtospenda dayina

bunker. Other families were down there with us and a temporary

community established itself. A sense of belonging was born

through adversity and it was a nice experience in its own way

(although I almost had a conniption when my grandpa decided

toignore the sirens and brazenly stroll to his apartment to bring

everyone back a cup of tea).

Reflecting on both times, I see strong parallels with the

environmental movement that’s been building for decades.

People from different backgrounds, with different cultures,

beliefs and skill sets, are coming together in response to what

seems to be existential threats and working on solutions from

many different angles. It is a fascinating chapter of human history

and,as scary as it can be, I am grateful to be a part of it.

EleanorGammell

ManagingDirectorofTheSchoolofLife Australia

BrenéBrowntalksaboutour

senseofbelongingtoeachother

beingsomethingthatcannever

belost,butcanbeforgotten.That

resonateswithmebecauseuntil

recently,I didn’tthinkaboutthe

ideaofbelongingunlessit wasmissing.Belonginghadalways

seemedmostsignificantinabsence.It tooktheprimaland

pivotalexperienceofbringingmydaughterPhoebeintothe

worldtochangethatperspective.Holdingherinmyarmsand

understandingthetrueservicethatit istoparenta smallhuman

throughlifeanchorsmenowwitha veryconsciousbelonging

I hadn’texperiencedbefore.Thispermeatesthroughmy

interactionswithothersandtheworkI doatTheSchoolofLife.

I feelthiswaya lotwhenI’mreadingoneofPhoebe’sfavourite

books:HereWeArebyOliverJeffers.It’sa whirlwindintroduction

toearth—from the land, sea, sky and space, to people and other

animals. Seeing our place in the world as if from a star, far away

inthe universe, actually gives me a great sense of belonging—

probably because it’s so humbling to remember the beauty in

ourinsignificance. From this vantage point, there are very few

differences between us (we’re just as deeply flawed as each

other) so we might as well consider ourselves connected and

belonging to this pale blue dot of a home together.

“People come in many shapes, sizes and colours.

Wemay all look different, act different and sound different...

butdon’t be fooled. We are all people.”

Oliver Jeffers

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