Books Reflecting the Longing to Belong: 21/31 Days of (Self) Belonging

Last night I finished the book “Lessons in Chemistry.” I loved it all the way along, but the last 100 or so pages I found myself so deeply connected to the characters and the messages and the story I could not stop the tears.

I kept flashing to messages from “Braving the Wilderness” by Brene Brown. It was uncanny, how the two connected.

The story itself – one of not fitting in and only feeling a smidgeon of belonging to oneself and only a smidgeon of belonging to a small group of people – it hit home so squarely. The author even used similar phrases that Brown uses. 

As I neared the end of the book, I cried even harder when I realized my favorite books of 2023 had similar themes: grief and belonging. Belonging and Grief. My top four fiction reads this year so far are “Take What You Need” by Idra Novey; “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin; “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus and “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano share a stunning similarity that the book I am currently reading “Playing the Witch Card” also shares.

Struggles with belonging to oneself and the connection of that to true belonging with others.

I write those words and a part of my nervous system says, “Go to sleep.”

Interestingly enough, when reading “Playing the Witch Card” today I almost shut the book when a scene hit too close to home. I didn’t want to read more. The desire to stop reading wasn’t  to process what I had just read, it was to push away what I had just read.

I wanted to forget the truth reflected in my own life from what I just read.

Ouch and YES!

I kept reading. I will continue writing.

I will grow in belonging with and to myself. I will continue to use this spiritual practice of awakening and notice the connections that are popping up everywhere because in saying YES to belonging, it is also saying YES to synchronicity, even those moments that feel painful at first.

What are you saying YES to in your life today?

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she has recently finished her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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