I don’t know if it’s a mid-life awakening or simply a survival technique to help get me through the teenage years, but I have been setting some big boundaries this year. I need to conserve energy and preserve peace. So, where there are trust issues in relationships, I am drawing a line. Now, within these new boundaries, I’m wondering where I belong?

At times, it can feel lonely within the lines. Then, I remember that life is always moving, and that we adjust our boundaries to maintain a steady flow of love. This movement through time and the changing landscape begs the question of what it means to belong. If we are continuously evolving and setting new boundaries, then where do we belong and how is it that we can feel grounded at “home” in any one space?

Being a word nerd, I decided to look more closely at the word belonging and consider that it is literally to be the longing. Perhaps belonging is not being at home with others in a familial or familiar group but being at home with yourself in the longing of your heart. I wonder if belonging is less about being a part of a whole in society and more about being wholly YOU in your life.

Be the longing

As a practice, I encourage you to identify what it is that you long for in life. Open your heart to what it is that you most desire right now. Is it more joy? Is it more peace? Is it love? Whatever it is that you long for, be it. 

Here are some examples:

If you long for joy, be joyful.
If you long for peace, be peaceful.
If you long for love, be loving.

Embody your longing

In my experience, when you embody your longing, you become the source of your longing, not the seeker. From that place, you attract others who share your sense of life. You find kinship in core values, and you create a community of belonging through your echoes of love.

Tune in to you

In John O’Donohue’s book titled “Eternal Echoes”, he writes that “one of our most sacred duties is to be open and faithful to the subtle voices of the universe which come alive in our longing.” He writes about learning to listen to the internal echoes of your heart (longing) and the external echoes of the universe (consciousness). For me, sounds of nature (external echoes) provide comfort in a way that allows my heart to open. It is in the whispers of the wind or in the rhythm of the waves that I “hear” my heart speak (internal echoes).

This practice of deep listening helped me to realize that my children’s book, “Your Heart Compass”, is inspired by my longing for joy, kindness, courage, and calm. When I embody these four ways of being, I am home. I am in the safety and comfort of my authentic Self.

Listening to your heart and the eternal echoes of the universe feels like a sacred act of bonding. To be wholly YOU feels holy.

It is a gift to explore these intricate ways of being human with you. This is the journey to authenticity and sacred connection.

Thank you for being here. Next time, we’ll explore gratitude.

Let’s journey together.

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With love,