Belonging

Defined from The Oxford Dictionary belonging is - “fit or be acceptable in a particular place or environment” I do not believe this is the thorough definition of belonging, because in the Oxford definition it only talks about belonging to a place. There is also belonging to a time and belonging to people. It is where and how we belong to people, place and time thats establishes who we are and what people depict you are in our world as well as your own identity. In Maslow's “Hierarchy of needs” belonging is only one part of the chain for fulfilling desires and needs. Belonging is one of the more basic needs and show how fundamental it is. In Maslow's hierarchy, in order for a person to experience belonging, they must first have physiological needs to be fulfilled, then they must feel safe. Once they have their belonging needs, they will then be able to go up then chain by achieving the esteem need by having confidence and earn respect of others. Experiences and notions of identity, relationships, acceptance and understanding can enhance our understanding of belonging because our experiences and notions of anything are shaped by people, place and time. Depending on experiences such as pain, emotions and knowledge is what shapes how we belong and what it means o belong. Identity of a person is the essence of a self conscience person which makes him the same person over time. To form an identity one must have a distinct personality where people define you as an individual. Belonging or not belonging shapes our identity by affecting aspects of our identity such as self esteem and confidence. Our own identity and belonging can also shape how we see the identity of others because the way we see ourselves and our status in a group can make us categorise people into groups which we like. Time is an important notion when discussing about belonging and attitudes towards belonging because it is what we experiences through time that develop who we are. Also attitudes towards belonging are modified over time. Maturation over time can affect how we see the world because growth and experiences during maturational can affect how we feel towards belonging physically and emotionally. Through time we will have more socialisation and inculcation process such as more group experiences which affect how we feel towards belonging and groups we belong to. An example of how time can affect belonging to groups is the short video Where the hell is Matt. The video is of one person called Matt doing a geeky dance in different countries around the world. In the video the desire to belong transcends time, place and culture. The repeated off Matt dancing where he is surrounded by different people from around the world, show that in this time and age people from around the world want to be a part of something to feel unity, even through a dance. Belonging to people or groups is also an important factor when talking about belonging. Belonging to a group has its disadvantages, where you will have to follow the rules of your group and cannot do whatever you want, where you have to think of others in your group before making a decision. But the advantages of being in a group are that you can shared the work and live more safely and have communications. In the end being in group is far better than not being in groups because the need to belong makes us want to join groups. In Maslow's Hierarchy to get to the belonging not one must achieve friendship, family, love, affection, being in groups and sexual intimacy. All of the factors to achieve the belonging need all involve something to do with people or groups. Our desire to belong can enable us to forgo values, behaviors and other connections as as to establish a connection with the desired group.