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Belonging takes places in the everyday and ordinary communities where life is lived. It is cultivated over time, in the company of others and for the sake of others. This form of pattern practices can at once create the space for the experience of alienation when we don’t belong. The Belonging Project will cultivate and investigate the practices that make for belonging.
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Belonging also takes place. It is embodied and particular, carried forth by the ways our bodies move through the various places we inhabit. And when displaced, we realize anew how much we belong. Emerging in the space between place and displacement, The Belonging Project will create a place to nurture and experience belonging.
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Belonging does not just happen; it is cultivated over time under particular conditions. Equally, belonging can be hindered and inhibited by conditions that force this life-giving breath from our lungs. Through conversation, consultation, and investigation, The Belonging Project aims to investigate and support the conditions that make for belonging.
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Belonging resists a single definition or a fixed expression. Although we need it like breath itself, belonging can be encountered and observed in unexpected places and ways. Just as our pursuit of belonging invites us to live porous lives, ongoing experiences of belonging complexifies our understanding of this deep longing. In honor of this complexity, The Belonging Project will aim to redefine belonging and complexify its varied expressions.
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We can only extend belonging when we’ve learned to receive it from others. This generational reality—the transmission of values and practices from ancestors to those who follow—cultivates wisdom and care. Only when we come to find ourselves surrounded by others, can we begin to invite others into structures of belonging. Standing in line with those who have come before us, The Belonging Project will pass along the practical wisdom belonging requires.
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After all, belonging is a matter of life and death. Amid the various crises that surround us, we’re here to call individuals and communities to life. This is the hope that calls us forward, inviting us to become members of a broader community and support the conditions where we and others can belong. The Belonging Project will work towards a common life where individuals and communities can breathe in the life-giving reality of belonging.