Here’s what those who registered for The Great Belonging Project October Refresh will receive on October 1st. This is only the beginning…

I’d love for you to join us. You can register here. Anyone who registers after October 1st will receive links to all of the previous emails.

Day One
(from the website with a few minor edits)

A Quote from The Great Belonging
“Even though our familiar belongings are shifting and fading, what new belongings are being formed? What are some of the new ways I’m belonging to myself, others, and God?” - The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other

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Let’s broaden our belongings for 30 days and see what happens.

Here’s a good way to begin: Make a list of 10 things, people, places, and ideas that help you feel less alone.

Share a few items from your list in an email response to me if you like. It might help others to see what helps you belong to yourself, others, the divine, and the world around you.

[Or post a few items from your list in a comment on the website here.]

It might help you to say it out loud on the internet.

More Layers

Loneliness can be confusing, but broadening our belongings makes everything better. The Great Belonging Project invites you to explore practical suggestions for a greater sense of belonging even while you continue to navigate various forms of loneliness. Since I wrote The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other, I've continued to grow in my understanding of the themes I wrote about in my first book's five parts: Belonging to Ourselves, Belonging to Each Other, Belonging to Our Places, Belonging through Art, and Belonging to God.

Over the past four years, many readers of The Great Belonging have told me their stories of loneliness and thanked me for helping them know they weren't alone in their loneliness. Several shared details about how ideas from The Great Belonging helped them have more courage to find new ways to connect. Their responses and feedback have motivated me to stay curious and continue to read, write, and talk about these topics.

Through engaging with the latest research and publications, noticing patterns in my personal experiences, and receiving insights from conversations with readers, friends, neighbors, and spiritual direction clients, I've learned that we have more agency over our belongingness than many believe. This follow-up to The Great Belonging provides a roadmap to making that agency a reality for you, regardless of your season of life, circumstances, or background.

I'm excited to present 30 proven, doable, and reasonable strategies for mitigating the adverse effects of loneliness. When we become more mindful and intentional about putting ourselves in the way of things that help us belong, we will experience more richness and restfulness in our relationships, work, faith, and other areas of life.

Each email includes thought-provoking quotes, personal narratives, contemplative practices, research, and/or insights from experts knowledgeable about the intersection of belonging, loneliness, art, and other good things that increase our overall sense of connection. When I've shared these suggestions with readers, clients, and retreat participants, they always seem surprised by how much relief they receive from simple actions and practices like re-reading a favorite book, making lists, and being in nature. I hope you will experiment with the 30 different suggestions to create your own map for belonging that decreases any disconnection, despair, and depression that you experience with your unique versions of loneliness.

Sometimes, change takes longer than we wish when we are trying to inhabit this world in new ways, but that doesn't mean the process isn't valuable. Transformation can seem indiscernible, and then one day, we realize old depleting patterns have been replaced with new nourishing rhythms. We discover that we feel less alone at the work meetings and neighborhood gatherings that used to cause a deep sense of disconnection. We find ourselves craving solitude on a Saturday night instead of dreading a weekend evening at home alone.

May these emails and our Zoom conversations help you discover new ways of connecting—to yourself, others, your places, and perhaps something greater than yourself. Let’s broaden our belongings and see what happens next.

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Belonging through Art Prompt: After you make your list of 10 things, people, places, and ideas that help you feel less alone, make a playlist with 10 songs—one song for each item on your list.

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Thanks so much for participating in The Great Belonging Project October Refresh.💚

May we all know we belong,

Charlotte

Zoom Gatherings This Week:
Friday, October 4 at 10 a.m. CT
Sunday, October 6 at 7 p.m. CT

You are welcome to come to one, or both, or neither!

The Zoom gatherings will provide optional, additional opportunities for personal reflection and facilitated group discussion.