tapping into our signals of belonging

How are the sides of your neck feeling right now? If you slightly look up right now, what do you see?

(After sitting with all the shades drawn for too long this morning, I'm glad I opened the one right in front of my desk because as I looked up, I was delightfully surprised to see the sliver-y-est crescent moon 🌘)

I wrote a note full of new stuff last week, yeah? Maybe you moved through it but maybe you wanted to revisit it?

I'm so into this comment that Emily left on the note:

I'm into it because:

If you feel called, comments are now open to members so you're welcome to share too!

Thank you, Emily, for sharing what you were struck by. And thank you – to you – if you replied to the email or chatted about it with me. And thank you – to you – if you read it and moved with the questions – or if you starred the note to come back to it later!

Thank you – to you – if you've come to the awareness that this little spot of togetherness on the Internet and in your email inbox is a spot you want to part ways with; delete this after reading is a favorite past note of mine. If you've been considering moving away from this spot or any other, I highly recommend reading it (before leaving 😊).

framing this week's reflection

this is me offering one way I walk through reflection's open portal

What I'm tapping into (given the signals I've received from you) is that we are a growing group of beings who are in shifting, changing relationships with our sense of belonging.

One's individual sense of belonging seems to be quite tied to the ways one spends one's days, yeah?

I go to this one grocery store, that specific library, that beach, this place of employment, this bank, that friend's house, this state park, that online community, this art gallery, or that coffee shop...

When something changes about one of those places, one's sense of belonging can dramatically shift.

Add in all the ways we as a human beings can change – you become a parent, a grandparent, a person who now knows you're living with a chronic illness, a carer for someone else in need, or a new small business owner – and that too can dramatically alter your sense of belonging.

Sense of belonging, then, is far from static.

The spectrum of feeling connected to disconnected is constantly alive, or at least it can be if each of us remembers how malleable and expandable our belonging truly is – whether it's belonging to ourselves, with or to one another, or with or to the world.

Want to share your reflective responses – or add your own reflective questions! – to the questions below?

Scroll back up to the uniquely weekly header image, look right below and click 'View Online'. You'll be transported to this same note online! You can read the rest of the note there, sign in, and leave your comment. 😊

this week's reflection

If it feels good, maybe gently rotate one part of your spine for a moment and sink in to whatever parts of you are touching the ground...

A preamble before wandering and wondering with these questions: read why I like to embed "you/I/we" and "(y)our" in my writing. I invite you to play around with switching the pronouns in any question!

These are the questions floating around me this week.

Maybe you'd like them to float around you, too?

Maybe you'll pull just one close to you and walk with it into your weekend?

What particular beings, places, things, or experiences are nurturing my sense of belonging in this present moment?

What particular beings, places, things, or experiences nurtured my sense of belonging this time last week? or this time last year?

What particular beings, places, things, or experiences could I envision nurturing my sense of belonging this time next week? this time next year?

What particular beings, places, things, or experiences could you see yourself parting ways with because they don't nurture your sense of belonging in this present time?

What particular beings, places, things, or experiences could we see creating – together or on our own – so that we could further nurture our sense of belonging?

What particular beings, places, things, or experiences could we see reimagining so that our sense of belonging could be remembered within them?

This last one is the one I am drawn to the most right now. I'm desiring to reimagine the ways I relate to my neighborhood and my city. I seek to uncover new-to-me touchstones that pull me to the beings who are local to me.

I'm curious and excited for you to move with whichever one has drawn you in... ✨

centering being with each other

The desired intention here is to give regular space for sharing ways to be with me, ways to be with Creative Partners of mine, and ways to be with each other.

1. how you can be with me

My mailbox at the co-working space is all ready to receive snail mail!

I'm playing with the idea of a future offering that weaves in snail mail and digital writing. You writing me (and me writing you back!) will help till this fertile soil.

On a naturey note, Nathan, Ernest, and I have a sweet ritual of heading to the mountains for the day for the multiple winter holidays approaching. Sometimes we go somewhere new-to-us or somewhere we've been before!

I guess we're into the trend of #optoutside? Maybe you want to be with me and this trend, too?

If you want to get your idea juices flowing, Katy Bowman offers an abundance of creative ways to be and move outdoors during the winter holidays.

2. how you can be with Creative Partners of mine

Diona and I came to a realization last week that I feel excited to share with you: we have three different 'containers' of work time together that support different kinds of work.

1. short sessions – This is how we started working together almost a year ago, meeting weekly for 2 hours. This container has been supportive when we've been wanting to touch base frequently with work that's continuously evolving and benefits intentionally nurturing the project's momentum.
2. immersive sessions – – Lately we've been needing what we've been calling immersive sessions, which are 4 to 5 hours, with a 30 minute break about 2/3 of the way through. This container is supportive for times when we have lots of updates to share with one another and we want to create deeply for one or two elements of a project (or several different projects).
3. retreats – – – Last summer, we were able to follow our desire and need for an in-person retreat and dive into many work sessions within the larger container of the retreat. This container is supportive for times when we want tangible and touch-able and long, winding conversations about all of the work we're in the midst of. This container is also useful when wanting to bring a project to a loving close or start a project with a surge of energy – or both!

I wonder how these three different containers of work time might resonate with you and the work you are in the midst of with your creative partners?

I'm quite certain you work with some type of creative partner! If you don't, I'm happy to either support you in finding a creative partner or become your creative partner in a capacity that aligns with the both of us.

3. how we can be with each other

This section is expansively experimental! I envision it as a spot for you, dear human, to share offerings of yours so that fellow members can join in and support you. I also envision this as a spot for sharing current happenings that offer ways for each of us to be with ourselves. I'm not sure what that means yet but shall we find out together?

Would you like to offer something to be shared here*? If so, reply to this emailed note or email me at cassandra@bewithcassandra.com with the current happening you'd like to invite fellow members to!

*I reserve the right to not include a happening if it doesn't align with Be With Cassandra's unfolding vision or if I receive too many happenings at once. Given what I know about you, I'm thinking the happening you share will align!

Well, here we are, at the end of another note full of reflection, and hopefully connection.

Thanks for floating along with me and this mysterious experience called being alive. 💛

Til next week,

Cassandra