Intro
The MHSAP Student Council’s statement of purpose is “From Connecting to Belonging.” This is a great concept as the Student Council works to encourage students to participate in various events toward the goal of getting students connected with others in the homeschool community in hopes that students will feel like they truly belong - that they are not alone. And we can only feel like we are not alone if we are in community with others. This deserves some time and thought so let’s get started.
Examples
The word “community” can mean a lot of things but for the purpose of these thoughts, community will be a group of people with whom we feel that we belong and can be ourselves without undue fear of rejection. And being mentally healthy requires that we have regular experiences in community. An important psychologist named Dan Siegel (Mindsight) has led the study and exploration of interpersonal neurology. He talks about how our brains are wired for relationship and community - that we literally need each other’s brains to have a healthy brain ourselves!
My Thoughts
This seems to make sense in a time where psychologists are saying that we are experiencing a loneliness epidemic. Which brings us back to the Student Council mission - From Connecting to Belonging. Because, while this is the most connected generation ever, it is also apparently the loneliest generation along with related high rates of depression and anxiety.
There is a clear play on words here. The Student Council works on making in person connections with students so that they will continue to attend events and interact with others and have a sense of belonging. And while this is not intended as a rant against technology, many people think they are connecting with others through technology and they may well be, but there is no way to move from connecting to belonging on a screen. Belonging requires interaction in real time and space. There is speculation that people mostly connecting through technology and not in 3 Dimensional space is part of the reason that people are so lonely. We can have a thousand connections all over the world. But where do we belong?
Conclusion
Our brains need in person community experiences to be mentally healthy. We will look at other aspects of this issue in this space over the coming few blogs. But for now:
- Do you have a group of people with whom you belong?
- Where do you do most of your connecting? In person or online/text/social media?
- Have you been experiencing a vague or even acute sense of loneliness lately?
- Do you have support people you can talk to in person?
- What can you do to belong yourself and to belong others? (Yes. Belong is not a verb, but using it as one conveys intentionally building community so we will go with it!)