Yes,I belong!

Belongingness ...a Dash of Tea.

“Ma’am, what is your opinion about relationships and marriage? Do they ever give you a sense of belongingness?” a client once asked me.

Well, what I believe is — marriage and relationships belong to you as much as you belong to them.

Commitment, too, needs commitment.

I also feel that the path of spirituality and self-work has as much to give you as you are willing to give to it. The more sincerely we try to understand ourselves, the less we expect others to read our minds.,which, let’s face it, is a full-time job for most partners anyway.

As I start my day, I realize that belongingness isn’t confined to one person or relationship.

I belong to my plants who seem to be surviving my love, the joy of cycling, the T-shirt that says “Roll for the Soul” and occasionally for the knees, my morning cup of tea ...the real therapist... intellectually and spiritually stimulating conversations with a friend, and the vibrations of my therapy room.

I belong to the “love you loads” text from a dear friend, the Idlis I made yes, edible this time,the face mask I applied ...which scared the courier guy, the doodles, the book-reading group, the washroom I scrubbed , the fear of being judged, and the freedom that came after I understood my fear.

I belong to the friend who’s been both talking and silent, the yellow light of my lamp, the new pens, and yes — to smokes and strokes. All these belong to me, and I belong to all these.

As Brené Brown says,

“True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.”

Belongingness cannot be locked down to a person, place, or thought. It’s not attachment — it’s the magic of connection, that spontaneous “I’m home” feeling that can appear anywhere: in laughter, in tears, or even in the perfect cup of masala chai.

The freedom that comes from belonging everywhere and nowhere can only be experienced when you truly belong to yourself.

 “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

In awareness 

I belong to myself 

And I belong to you.