Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone

Dr. Michelle Buck to help us out. Buck is a clinical professor of leadership at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she served as the school’s first director of leadership initiatives.

Second, it’s advantageous to recognize how we often rely on bullshitting when we feel compelled to talk about things we don’t understand. Frankfurt explains how the widespread conviction that many of us share about needing to comment or weigh in on every single issue around the globe leads to increased levels of BS.

What difference do these stupid cupcakes really make? They matter because joy matters.

Speaking against power structures that keep some inside and others outside has a cost, and the currency most often drafted from my account is belonging.

Show up for collective moments of joy and pain so we can actually bear witness to inextricable human connection.

We must never tolerate dehumanization—the primary instrument of violence that has been used in every genocide recorded throughout history.

We’re going to need to intentionally be with people who are different from us. We’re going to have to sign up, join, and take a seat at the table. We’re going to have to learn how to listen, have hard conversations, look for joy, share pain, and be more curious than defensive, all while seeking moments of togetherness.

He writes, “As a result, we now live in a giant feedback loop, hearing our own thoughts about what’s right and wrong bounced back to us by the television shows we watch, the newspapers and books we read, the blogs we visit online, the sermons we hear, and the neighborhoods we live in.”

That’s common enemy intimacy. I don’t really know you, nor am I invested in our relationship, but I do like that we hate the same people and have contempt for the same ideas. Common enemy intimacy is counterfeit connection and the opposite of true belonging.