I wish I had a dollar for the amount of emails I send with one of the following in the subject line or as a salutation – I would be rich:
“connecting”, “let’s connect!” , and “I’d love to connect with you!”
There are so many things that encourage or set us up for connection. Social media corrals us to find our communities and to follow who we relate to. Social movements establish common identities and call people to act and be a part of a change. Whether it be a subreddit about why water is amazing, or the global women’s march, people unite under almost any fandom or cause.
Communities like these uncover passion and purpose of their subscribers. These two concepts create baseline for connection.
Shared Passion + Shared Purpose = Connection
Connection built on our Passion (what we love) and Purpose (why we love) instills a sense of belonging in relationships.
the show I really met Matt and Kali
humblebeast records stands out as one of my favorite record labels. The signed artists release their music and poetry for free under values of creativity, humility, theology, and doxology. In a genre full of braggadocios, inflated egos, and traditionally toxically masculine monoliths, this stood out as an organization I could do more than just listen to.
I follow humblebeast with some of my closest friends – Matt and Kali. We consider each other family. We met each other at a concert in 2016, two days before their oldest child was born. I saw a very pregnant lady give an entire plate of peanut butter cookies to Propaganda and I was not only jealous of the cookies, I was honestly jealous because those cookies represented a connection with one of my favorite artists.
It turns out, we had been to several of the same concerts in our area over the past several years, leading up to this one.
Since then, we’ve shared many meals, obsessed over emerging and dated musicians, ranted over generalized trends in religion, and laughed at the quirky things their two beautiful children do. We’ve shared a lot of experiences and a lot of time. But we also are vulnerable with each other. By peeling back layers in our relationship, we’ve continued to discover things we love together – and reasons behind that love – shared purposes. Our belonging together represents emotional and spiritual healing, healthy relationships, and creating thriving communities.
So, what is it that you are passionate about?
What in your life gives you purpose?
How do you share those with people in your life?
Answers to these questions tend to be uniquely human and beautifully simple. Please share answers you have to these questions and see what you have common with other readers.
belong_ng 
I didn’t anticipate, at this time in my life, that I would be re-invigorating a lifelong passion—poetry—by building connection. It happened organically and intuitively, and then you, with this post, helped me put words to what we’re doing at Lyricality: We’re building connection through a shared passion (poetry and song) with a shared purpose (to support diversity and foster community).
Thank you for helping me put that into words!
Lyricality: building connection through poetry and song to support diversity and foster community. It’s a little abstract, but it helps me, an abstract thinker, stay focused, to plan with more clarity.
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