Sharing – the wound of unbelonging

What we are witnessing in America is the exact opposite of what we need most – community.

I think Margeaux describes not only the lack of belonging but the traumatic effects of having it taken away:

Belonging is an inherent human need. Physiologically, emotionally, neurobiologically. Unbelonging, then, is deeply traumatic. I use the word “unbelonging” (which, as the red underlining it in my substack draft as I write reminds me, is not actually a word), because the prefix “un” denotes deprivation — something that’s necessary is missing, has been taken or withheld.

https://carescapes.substack.com/p/the-wound-of-unbelonging

This is where we are. By dehumanizing human beings who are not like us, we make it easier to hate and accept violence against them, and we also cause this wound. We take away from them something that is a core human need and a right.

Mental health advocates like me can talk all day about the importance of community and the life-saving value of human connection, but who are we if we take that away from anyone?