Belonging
— Alla Renée Bozarth
The small plot of ground
on which you were born
cannot be expected
to stay forever
the same.
Earth changes,
and home becomes different
places.
You took flesh
from clay
but the clay
did not come
from just one
place.
To feel alive,
important, and safe,
know your own waters
and hills, but know
more.
You have stars in your bones
and oceans
in blood.
You have opposing
terrain in each eye.
You belong to the land
and sky of your first cry,
you belong to infinity.
Ideally, a sense of belonging begins when we are very young … in our homes, among our families … then expands as we grow and mature in our concept of “home.” There are many places I experience “belonging” because home is an evolving concept:
My home is on the banks of the Mackenzie River cradled by the mountains as I wrote volumes of teen-angst-filled poems.
My home is in a small clearing in the woods on the banks of Butterwood Branch on pristine land abutting the Shenandoah National Forest where my mother and I hosted Wild Women camping trips for several years.
My home is in the interior and exterior spaces of the Unitarian Universalist church that raised me; in the company of family and dear friends; in my own backyard, and anytime and anyplace my beloved is by my side.
Home is anywhere I feel a profound sense of belonging. In my most aware and awakened moments I know I am always at home. For, like a turtle, I can take my home with me wherever I go because ultimately my home is in the vast universe where I exist as a microsecond aspect of stardust wandering and wondering through infinity.
Where is home for you? Where do you go to experience a sense of connection and belonging? What places heal your spirit?
Jan Taddeo
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The Words of Wisdom? is a publication of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett.
