A resonant piece. Thank you for sharing how you make sense of belonging via the interconnected aspects of human experience. To survive, we require air, shelter, water, and food (in this order of priority). Remove or restrict any and our bodily existence can cease in anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks. These are the elements of physical survival. Yet, as you describe, we are also wired for belonging and connection. We are a social species after all. Mess with the elements of healthful belonging, and our existence also can become threatened. And that connection can lead to a deeper quest for meaning… purpose. “Who am I? Why am I here? What genuinely matters for this day?” You’ve given a new (at least for me!) perspective on how to think about these human needs and their healthy functioning. Thanks.
Thank you for this writing. I have been thinking about rivers lately. I have been thinking of how their natural flow has been restricted or controlled to make way for the grid systems of cities. A friend showed me a picture of a River under a city and I cried. Of course, I knew this was a thing, but the visual image of the River's restriction felt like a mirrored image of how humanity has hated it's wildness. I appreciate you bringing more words to mind on this reflection.
i love this and welcome the read - I have written so much about our belonging and need to belong and find it at the core of the living systems work - that we belong - and that we seek to then belong and find place to make place.. thank you for the writing and share
Thank you Cari, I can tell we are kindred in this journey. I appreciate the reflection and the resonance, I'm with you completely in essential and beautiful work of reminding us all that we belong to infinitely nested living systems.
Wonderful, and so very resonant. I have been writing about longing recently . . . I am going to be dropping an introductory essay for my new substack publication, Hearthwoven, this week. Once that is out, I think I will share a recent writing about longing. Thank you for the inspiration!
I just published my intro essay, audio and written. It feels good to arrive on this platform properly and I look forward to deepening. Thank you for inspiring meaningful heartfelt action in my life.
@Dan, I don't recall if I've written about this yet, but I remember so vividly when Seth and I first told you about the Sex, God, & Money course and your response was "the only thing missing is trauma!" and we replied in concert, "the whole process is rooted in trauma and nervous system education!"
I'm so grateful to have your witness, friendship, and support along the way.
All well said without any reference to the ontological roots of separation in sacred beliefs of self-reliance and Western science (pre-20thC) that perpetuates it - all things are independent in space and time. Nothing explicit is said about the ontology of reality that addresses interdependence in space and time or Western science of the 20-21stC and or the resurfacing and respect for indigenous sciences grounded in the knowledge and knowledge keeping of interdependence in space and time. Addressing reality with independence and interdependence awareness is not a binary/either-or proposition; it is both-and; there is a place for both. One is not subjugated to other as it has been for far too long. Longing for belonging is not about selfishness; it is about the principles of tensegrity, the compression-tension dynamics that hold a (social) system together, that distribute overwhelming compression weights along tensional connections to others (personal and societal) for support, relief, feeling of belonging. Universe contains all, everything and all its interrelationships; all of its tensegral dynamics.
Hi Richard, thank you for taking the time to read and share your reflections. I appreciate your emphasis on the ontological roots of separation and the ongoing need to integrate both independence and interdependence into our frameworks. Transcend and Include as we say in the Integral Theory world!
In my own studies, I’ve spent a lot of time considering these roots, especially the role of Cartesian dualism and the way it’s reiterated in many foundational philosophy courses, shaping the worldview of most students engaging in what is meant to be a well rounded education within our culture. That disconnect is actually what led me to study Vashishtadvaita Vedanta and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, where I found frameworks that resonate more deeply with my sense of a living, relational world.
This piece was written in a more personal and accessible voice, but I’m always interested in what threads resonate with readers, and your comment reminds me that there’s appetite for naming and engaging these deeper philosophical roots. I may explore that more in future writing.
As for tensegrity, I actually reference it quite a bit, mostly in my collaborative work with my partner Seth, where we teach about biotensegrity as a lens for understanding the human body within larger systems of relational integrity. I appreciate your suggestion to consider tensegral dynamics at a societal scale. It resonates with how I’ve engaged Buckminster Fuller’s idea of “love as metaphysical gravity,” and the role that support, relief, and the felt sense of belonging might play in distributing tension and holding complex systems together. There’s definitely something worth exploring further in that.
A resonant piece. Thank you for sharing how you make sense of belonging via the interconnected aspects of human experience. To survive, we require air, shelter, water, and food (in this order of priority). Remove or restrict any and our bodily existence can cease in anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks. These are the elements of physical survival. Yet, as you describe, we are also wired for belonging and connection. We are a social species after all. Mess with the elements of healthful belonging, and our existence also can become threatened. And that connection can lead to a deeper quest for meaning… purpose. “Who am I? Why am I here? What genuinely matters for this day?” You’ve given a new (at least for me!) perspective on how to think about these human needs and their healthy functioning. Thanks.
Thanks for giving me some food for thought this morning and for the journal prompts! I’m using some of them for my reflections 💚
Thank you for this writing. I have been thinking about rivers lately. I have been thinking of how their natural flow has been restricted or controlled to make way for the grid systems of cities. A friend showed me a picture of a River under a city and I cried. Of course, I knew this was a thing, but the visual image of the River's restriction felt like a mirrored image of how humanity has hated it's wildness. I appreciate you bringing more words to mind on this reflection.
i love this and welcome the read - I have written so much about our belonging and need to belong and find it at the core of the living systems work - that we belong - and that we seek to then belong and find place to make place.. thank you for the writing and share
Thank you Cari, I can tell we are kindred in this journey. I appreciate the reflection and the resonance, I'm with you completely in essential and beautiful work of reminding us all that we belong to infinitely nested living systems.
Homecoming yearnings
meet gathering, belonging.
More so in tough times.
Wonderful, and so very resonant. I have been writing about longing recently . . . I am going to be dropping an introductory essay for my new substack publication, Hearthwoven, this week. Once that is out, I think I will share a recent writing about longing. Thank you for the inspiration!
Thank you Tei, I'm looking forward to reading your pieces!
I just published my intro essay, audio and written. It feels good to arrive on this platform properly and I look forward to deepening. Thank you for inspiring meaningful heartfelt action in my life.
Blessings,
Thank you.
Beautiful share as always 💕
Love this and the path you are walking❤️
@Dan, I don't recall if I've written about this yet, but I remember so vividly when Seth and I first told you about the Sex, God, & Money course and your response was "the only thing missing is trauma!" and we replied in concert, "the whole process is rooted in trauma and nervous system education!"
I'm so grateful to have your witness, friendship, and support along the way.
All well said without any reference to the ontological roots of separation in sacred beliefs of self-reliance and Western science (pre-20thC) that perpetuates it - all things are independent in space and time. Nothing explicit is said about the ontology of reality that addresses interdependence in space and time or Western science of the 20-21stC and or the resurfacing and respect for indigenous sciences grounded in the knowledge and knowledge keeping of interdependence in space and time. Addressing reality with independence and interdependence awareness is not a binary/either-or proposition; it is both-and; there is a place for both. One is not subjugated to other as it has been for far too long. Longing for belonging is not about selfishness; it is about the principles of tensegrity, the compression-tension dynamics that hold a (social) system together, that distribute overwhelming compression weights along tensional connections to others (personal and societal) for support, relief, feeling of belonging. Universe contains all, everything and all its interrelationships; all of its tensegral dynamics.
Hi Richard, thank you for taking the time to read and share your reflections. I appreciate your emphasis on the ontological roots of separation and the ongoing need to integrate both independence and interdependence into our frameworks. Transcend and Include as we say in the Integral Theory world!
In my own studies, I’ve spent a lot of time considering these roots, especially the role of Cartesian dualism and the way it’s reiterated in many foundational philosophy courses, shaping the worldview of most students engaging in what is meant to be a well rounded education within our culture. That disconnect is actually what led me to study Vashishtadvaita Vedanta and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, where I found frameworks that resonate more deeply with my sense of a living, relational world.
This piece was written in a more personal and accessible voice, but I’m always interested in what threads resonate with readers, and your comment reminds me that there’s appetite for naming and engaging these deeper philosophical roots. I may explore that more in future writing.
As for tensegrity, I actually reference it quite a bit, mostly in my collaborative work with my partner Seth, where we teach about biotensegrity as a lens for understanding the human body within larger systems of relational integrity. I appreciate your suggestion to consider tensegral dynamics at a societal scale. It resonates with how I’ve engaged Buckminster Fuller’s idea of “love as metaphysical gravity,” and the role that support, relief, and the felt sense of belonging might play in distributing tension and holding complex systems together. There’s definitely something worth exploring further in that.