Belong

I am overwhelmed by those who don’t belong…

…especially the ones who “don’t belong” with the ones like me…the ones whose clothes and holey shoes tell a story.

You’ve felt it before too right?  Ever been to a neighborhood where everyone looks the same but you?  It may not even be the skin color that divides.  It’s the way you walk.  It’s the t-shirt that says G A P directly across your boobs.  It’s the bright white jean shorts and the mint green watch that gives you away.  Here, you are not urban enough.  At least for today, you don’t belong.

I hate that feeling.  I dislike it for me, but I hate it much more for others who don’t have the emotional or relational resources available to make it out of all the unbelonging into actual belonging.

Last week, I painted the walls of my new office with a kid 45 days sober, out of rehab, a halfway house and freshly plunked down into society.  Someone else made a horrible, flippant comment about addicts and I felt his recovering heart crumble.

I never said anything specifically but I did everything I could to help him feel like he’s with me.  With my actions, “me & you,” I said, “we’re no different.  You don’t have to belong to anyone else today, but right now you belong to me.”

If I can’t at the very least makes someone feel like they belong in the very moment they need it, I don’t belong here.

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“On Fridays around these parts we like to write. Not for comments or traffic or anyone else’s agenda. But for pure love of the written word. For joy at the sound of syllables, sentences and paragraphs all strung together by the voice of the speaker.

We love to just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. For five minutes flat.

Here’s how we do it:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in {you can grab the button code in my blog’s footer}.

3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you. Every writer longs to feel heard.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes for the prompt: Present.”

–Lisa-Jo Baker’s Five Minute Friday