What Makes A Sense Of Belonging?

A fundamental part of human existence and interaction is the notion of belonging or identifying with a group. Groups form and exist for various reasons and purposes, comprising of individuals similar or diverse in nature, that often work together toward a common goal (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). In 1902, the American sociologist by the name of C. H. Cooley, made distinction between primary and secondary groups. Cooley (1902) classified primary group to have intimate and comparatively permanent associations as one might find in a cohort of close friends, or a family. The groups or associations in which individuals related to each other through formal and often legalistic rules, were classified as secondary groups (Nolen, 2010).

Through life, people experience many kinds of love. Many people often believe they love someone, when they actually do not because they may not know what the word means. As much as we want to understand love, it is still simply indescribable. As C.S. Lewis tries to explain it in his book, The Four Loves, it is still a mystery as to what love truly means. I believe in order to know what love means, one must experience it. It is quite true that went two individuals are in love with each other, they know it and can feel it. No matter how much love is studied and looked at, every individual must experience it to understand it. Along with this love lies circumstances which lead

Have you ever felt the feeling of butterflies in your stomach or heard the phrase “my heart skipped a beat for you”? As children, we grew up learning from our elders and experiencing new beginnings in life. Much of our knowledge has been brought upon by what we see and hear, rather of what we know. Many important decisions we make in our life has to do with what our feelings show us. Love is an important matter in our life because it motivates us in different ways. Love can be shown through emotions or even through actions. What is a valuable definition of love? A brief definition of love can be said to be a variety of different feelings or attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection to pleasure. In other words, to me love is when

Finding a sense of belonging to a place can influence an individual’s sense of acceptance within the community and culture or opposingly can enhance their sense of isolation and alienation from society.This is reflected through Raimond Gaita’s memoir Romulus My Father and Manfred Jurgensen’s poem Bonegilla 1916 through extensive literary devices.We learn individuals perceptions of place and their ability to adjust to new places governs their ability to belong and feel at home with new cultures.

Have you ever felt left out or thought that you didn’t belong? Well I am here to tell you that everyone needs to belong. I think that people need to belong because without people belonging what is the point for the human race. Belonging isn’t just about being with a group but happiness and love. One might argue that many people are isolated and do not belong and are happy with that, but they just belong to a smaller group or just a single person. People need to belong and no matter what people will always belong in one way or another.

“We belong … like fish in water. We’re in our environment.” This quote from the New York Times shows the perception of belonging as the idea about connecting to a place, person, group or a community. 'Feliks Skrzynecki' by Peter Skrzynecki, 'I'm nobody! Who are you?' by Emily Dickinson and 'The Rabbits' by John Marsden & Shaun Tan show the concept of belonging as being contrasted towards the New York Times quote, showing the alienation and non-existent connection towards it. These texts have furthered my understanding on the perceptions of belonging by recognising the different concepts of connection to people, places and things.

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.” Discuss this view with detailed reference ( 2010 HSC Question)

The feeling of belonging is not a necessity that everybody needs but is a common feeling that most people believe to be important in their lives if they want to be happy. People believe the feeling to belong helps them to be happy because if they feel like they belong somewhere they will feel safer and more confident when in that place. The place people feel like they belong in does not have to be a physical place like a house or a town/city but can also be a social place or in some ways an emotional place. An example of these would be a group of close friends or a person's home although a home is also a physical place it varies depending on the person because of the emotional feelings attached to that place are different so it could be considered an emotional place for someone to

In a society where individuals can freely do things, that still abide to laws, things can get out of place. Of course there will be a small cluster of those who decide that the law may not always be right. From that cluster, there is a majority who disobey laws in a harsh manner, and the minority who do it peacefully. The question is, how does it impact our society? The truth is, disobeying anything can give people negative connotations. If you peacefully resist, the punishment might not be as hard then if you resist with frustration. However, there are cases where they broke the law, but they did it 'for the people'. An example of this Robin Hood, is a guy named Edward Snowden. He showed us information that the government themselves, were

Belonging is an essential part of human life that is not always just a connection to a place; it is a feeling of being at home within yourself and having the patience to discover who you are. Being at home within yourself is a process that is not instantaneous and this is evident in the film Ten Canoes and the poem ‘Digging’. Through characters and text specific techniques, the film and poem portray processes of how developing an understanding of group dynamics and relationships allows one to gain a sense of personal belonging, deeper than merely a connection to a place.

Belonging is an experience that can change not only those whom aspire to belong but can also change the lives of those around for the better

"It is only once we leave the familiarity of our own world that we come to an appreciation and understanding of the importance of belonging," that's how the saying goes. But, is it actually true? Can we not define our sense of belonging until we have a longing for it? It is an interesting concept, especially in a world so threatened by images of the other, who threatens the ideology behind our group ideology. In a world that is not our own, can we ever feel like we belong?

This was an odd feeling. It feels good. Sitting around the table with Molly and David, eating our bowls of chili, makes me feel normal. It feels almost as if I wasn’t the son of a killer, the bad seed, or an abomination to this small town. I relish in the warmth of the laughter and sense of belonging. If only it could stay like this. For a short period of time the voices in my head are calm. They aren’t shouting about all of my flaws or telling me to end it. No one knows about the voices that I hear, only them and myself. As I sit in my chair watching I realize how found I have become of the two people sitting before me. Neither of them had any reason to associate with me, why would they? They could have treated me like the voices in my head

The need to belong in an integral part of the human psyche. All people, on some level, desire to feel a sense of belonging that will emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger world. Belonging cannot be achieved without an understanding of oneself and their surroundings.

The struggle to belong and find one’s place is significant in the lives of some people.