I
want to revisit the topic of belonging because it permeates so many areas of
our lives – impacting our behavior, our social interactions and our
relationships. We live in a fast-paced world and have access to technology
which enables us to connect with millions in virtual space.
We not only have the liberty to express our
opinions on ezines and blogs but we can simultaneously engage an audience in
multiple forums, influence contemporary culture and even affect current events.
This is truly awesome! I believe this has an effect on the way we view our opportunities
for belonging.
We
are no longer limited to belonging in nations, tribes, clans, villages, religions
or cult groups. Our membership sphere extends to virtual networks where
barriers of race, color, creed and political thought have become enmeshed, enabling
us to navigate across boundaries. We now belong to interest groups and
lifestyle clubs based on our cultural practices and thought preferences. We are
no longer limited by geography or tied to our birthplace – even if we never get
to leave it. By the same token, the world has experienced unprecedented migrations
across continents and insurgencies of large populations in virtually every
nation because people are forced to flee their homeland due to ruthless
dictators, civil wars, warlords, drug cartels, various renegade groups with
access to money, guns and vigilante power.
Vivian Diller, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice in New York
City tells us that “reactions to a natural disaster, an act of
violence, mortal combat, bankruptcy or the loss of loved ones can be pretty
different. But, almost always, there is the before and after, the desire to
forget and a need to remember -- common experiences that follow throughout
life.”
The question is what happens to our
sense of belonging in the context of these seismic shifts? Does survivor’s
guilt and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) transform our need to belong
with a need to flee from our past and seek non attachment?
"Does survivor’s guilt and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) transform our need to belong with a need to flee from our past and seek non attachment?" A script that does not quite fit in my life story but somehow, somewhere it does, as I have fled a culture and a way of life I didn't fit in. Decades later, though I ache at times at the "loss" of my loved ones, loss through the physical distance that has separated us, that I deliberately chose to put between us years ago, my sense of belonging is vast and "fluid", ever- changing, never limited to a tribe, or a religion, or a nationality, or kinship, or race, or gender. My attachment and sense of belonging was to "foreign" countries at different times, to different people at different times and though people have come and gone out of my life, and will continue to do so, that sense of belonging will always remain and will most likely continue to be strong with those that are permanent in my life, those I have shared a portion of my life with but are no longer present in it, and others I haven't met yet. The sense of belonging is just an inner feeling that comes and goes, fluctuates with time, and therefore does not totally belong to us :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the way you put it, resonates for me too and to me this is a citizen of the world. Thank you Zohra for sharing your thoughts.
Delete