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Flip the Script: Belonging
Day Twenty-five
Belonging
“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” ~Brené Brown, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead
Belonging is fundamentally a basic need.
My childhood story is that we moved 12 times by the time I was 15 years old. Many of those moves were in the first five years of my life and then we moved every other year, mostly due to my father’s job promotions. Sometimes we moved from one school district to another, in the same area, when my parents did house repairs, sold the house, and moved to another house.
I had some awkward years. I’m sure you did, too. My parents were not much help when I had trouble navigating new schools and a lack of friends. My mother, god bless her, did try. She has always been socially awkward and was having her own challenges with finding friends. My father was a functional alcoholic, emotionally distant unless there was an audience. With his wounded inner child he finally found love and gratitude in religion in the last few years of his life.
One of the toughest times in my childhood was 5th — 8th grades, in two different schools in…
