Belonging is an expression of life.

anything we practice we get good at, whether what we are practicing is good for us or not: I can practice being swayed by the conditioning of society or I can practice undoing these implicit biases.

The pathology of productivity is entwined with a pathology of performativity. The need to always do (and share) keeps us from grounding, knowing, loving, connecting, and ultimately from being.

We learn that appreciation, acceptance, and sometimes even love are connected to how we measure up. How could this not affect our sense of belonging?

We may think we learn to belong. In fact, we unlearn not belonging.

When we can better sense our physical pain, we are relieved from the stories about that pain that keep us caught in a cycle of despair.

The erotic is embodied awareness with an attention to joy, to savoring every moment—not for stimulation but for liberation.

Remember, “creative” and “reactive” are the same letters and curiosity is the key. A true response is momentary. Reactivity is perpetuated by a thinking mind that is locked into concepts or perceptions, closed off to the changing moments of lived experience, no longer curious.

The less wrapped up we are in our patterns—reactively avoiding pain or acting out unconscious conditioning—the more available we are for whatever life presents.