SENSING AND SENDING BELONGING
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with social groups , physical spaces , and individual and collective experiences ” and explain that it is “ a dynamic feeling and experience that emerges from four interrelated components that arise from and are supported by the systems in which individuals reside :
1 . Competencies for belonging ( skills and abilities );
2 . Opportunities to belong ( enablers , removal / reduction of barriers ); 3 . Motivations to belong ( inner drive ); 4 . Perceptions of belonging ( cognitions , attributions , and feedback mechanisms — positive or negative experiences when connecting ).”
This depiction of belonging centers what the sensor feels . If you don ’ t feel you have the competencies , opportunities , motivations , or perceptions to drive your sense of belonging , you ’ ll have little chance to feel belonging , and it ’ s all subjective . What you think , feel , and do is what matters . And if what you
“ If you don ’ t feel you have the competencies , opportunities , motivations , or perceptions to drive your sense of belonging , you ’ ll have little chance to feel belonging , and it ’ s all subjective .” think and feel falls short of a full sense of belonging , what might you do to change it ?
In the Apple TV series See , two of the central characters are twins born with sight in a postapocalyptic world that has rendered most people blind . As sighted people , they are in the minority and subject to ostracization , fear , and violence . They struggle to find their rightful place of acceptance and belonging while enduring rejection as cursed and threatening misfits ( even though they are descendants of royal heritage ). In the end , they decide that to gain the belonging they ’ ve sought all their lives , they must either change who they are ( as the male twin does ) or change where they are ( as the female twin does ).
Changing who you are can be considered in at least two dimensions of self-correction : by realizing that to belong to the group or place you ’ re in , you must give up or alter those behaviors or traits that might be causing others to exclude or not accept you . For some , this is like an “ awakening ” that what you are doing is causing the issue and you must become “ better .” In this mode , you discover and cultivate another side of your authentic self that you realize needs to be expressed more to find the acceptance and belonging you seek . In a positive way , you evolve and grow . Self-awareness leads to belonging . But in a negative way , this could mean that you mask or subdue aspects of your true self or assimilate in ways that are not consistent with who you are just to gain acceptance . In this case , you ’ re giving in to the pull of doing what ’ s expected of you to be part of the culture , even if it ’ s not really your
Page 8 Summer 2023 CSEE Connections