07/01/2025
Belonging to Something Bigger
There’s a quiet ache many of us carry, even if we rarely name it. It’s the longing to feel part of something larger—something that gives meaning to our efforts, our suffering, our joy.
We want to believe our lives aren’t just isolated stories, but threads in a greater pattern. For some, this once came from religion or spiritual belief. Others found it in tradition, family, or shared purpose. But in our modern, fractured world, many of those structures have faded—or no longer speak to us the same way.
Nietzsche famously declared, “God is dead.” It wasn’t a celebration, but a recognition of a loss. When the old beliefs fall away, what remains? Without something bigger to belong to, we can feel unanchored—adrift in personal goals, but unsure of the larger why.
And yet the hunger remains. We look for meaning in movements, in causes, in art, in love, in nature, in the quiet need to help others. We build new forms of connection, new rituals, new beliefs. Even in disbelief, we still long for belonging—not just to people, but to purpose.
Maybe it’s not about returning to old systems, but about listening to that longing instead of dismissing it. Letting it guide us toward something honest and expansive, even if it’s fragile. A sense that we’re not just here to survive or succeed, but to take part in something that lives beyond us.
Do you feel this too? And what helps you feel connected to something larger—whether seen or unseen, old or newly made?
'The Creation of Adam' [detail], 1512 by Michelangelo
