Quotes About Community

deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible human need

We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don't function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others. We get sick.

Connection to a larger humanity gives people more freedom to express their individuality without fear of jeopardizing belonging.

The Center for Complicated Grief at Columbia is another tremendous resource.

It doesn't matter if the group is a church or a gang or a sewing circle or masculinity itself, asking members to dislike, disown, or distance themselves from another group of people as a condition of "belonging" is always about control and power. I think we have to question the intentions of any group that insists on disdain toward other people as a membership requirement. It may be disguised as belonging, but real belonging doesn't necessitate disdain.

How would education be different if students, teachers, and parents sat on the same side of the table? How would engagement change if leaders sat down next to folks and said, "Thank you for your contributions. Here's how you're making a difference. This issue is getting in the way of your growth, and I think we can tackle it together.

Rather than judgment (which exacerbates shame), empathy conveys a simple acknowledgment, "You're not alone.

A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all women, men, and children.

Living with air pollution increases your odds of dying early by 5 percent. Living with obesity, 20 percent. Excessive drinking, 30 percent. And living with loneliness? It increases our odds of dying early by 45 percent

The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families,

Culture is the way we do things around here.

Too often we forget about the "what is okay" part, and that leads to unnecessary disconnection.

I ultimately worked the AA program for a year, and let me just tell you, all the slogans are true. It does look like a Saturday Night Live skit where there are ten posters hanging in a row on a wood-paneled wall in a church basement, but they are the damn truth, and if you live by them, they will rock your world.

We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don't function as we were meant to.

Living without connection—without knowing love and belonging—is not victory.

I say "counterfeit" because when we see someone who we don't like, we disagree with, or is outside our group stumble, fall, or fail, it's tempting to celebrate that suffering together and to stir up collective emotion. That kind of bonding might feel good for a moment, but nothing that celebrates the humiliation or pain of another person builds lasting connection.

the absence of love and belonging will always lead to suffering. It

I'm with you. In the arena. And when we fail, we'll fail together, while daring greatly.

We invite compassion onto our lives when we act compassionately toward ourselves and others, and we feel connected in our lives when we reach out and connect.

When she says "life or death," she's not kidding. It turns out that everything she's learned complements what we read about loneliness: Social interaction makes us live longer, healthier lives. By a lot. Pinker writes, "In fact, neglecting to keep in close contact with people who are important to you is at least as dangerous to your health as a pack-a-day cigarette habit, hypertension, or obesity." The good news is that this contact

There is no true belonging, only an unspoken treaty to hate the same people. This fuels our spiritual crisis of disconnection.

It's so much easier to say, "I'll be whoever or whatever you need me to be, as long as I feel like I'm part of this.

Leaders must care for and be connected to the people they lead.

It turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it's the bravest and most sacred place you'll stand.