04 | Belonging (Coming To Our Senses)

Belonging | Coming To Our Senses (Video)

Displaced

An introduction reflecting on the recent news that an agreement has been reached between the United Kingdom and Mauritius about allowing citizens to return home to the Chagos Islands after the brutal expulsion of the 1960’s and 1970’s to make way for a military base.

Salah Oudjane’s Refusal To Move

Salah Oudjane’s refusal to leave his café in La Castellane, France, amid a wave of urban redevelopment in 2011, was not just an act of defiance against developers—it was a stand for the community.

Who is Number One?

What can we learn about belonging from 1960’s sci-fi series, The Prisoner?

Nosedive

What is the cost of trying to fit into a world that thrives off our feelings of alienation? We use an episode of Black Mirror to frame this question.

In The Temple of Belonging

Zoie’s inspiring poem, created ahead of our Well Worn Kota.

Undisciplinable (by Barbra Wallace)

“If I get to be me, I belong. If I have to be like you, I fit in.” – Brené Brown

Barbra Wallace is an aspiring social justice writer. She has an extensive background working in the non-profit sector, including the fields of social & community entrepreneurship and higher education.

As an ardent advocate of the power of storytelling to make positive change in the lives of individuals, communities, and wider societies, I invited Barbra to write this article, to provide a glimpse into her personal journey, drawing upon storytelling to explore feelings of belonging / non-belonging.

Descend, Emerge, Embrace (with Ania Rolinska)

Ania Rolinska is a fine art photographer from Poland who lives in Scotland. I’ve known her for many years through The Haven community and have been moved and inspired regularly by how she explores and expresses her creative spirit.

She arrived at photography later in life as a form of creative and therapeutic practice. I invited her to share fragments of this collection of photos, demonstrating her introspective self-portraits, created from experimental movement sessions on beaches in the Outer Hebredes. They reflect her explorations of belonging within ourselves and the relationship we have with our bodies and souls.

Between Solitude and Loneliness

Unlike loneliness, solitude arrives as a nourishing choice to be alone. It is a sense of belonging with everything and everyone from a position of being alone and anchored. If we feel dysregulated and without adequate co-regulation, nourishing solitude is inaccessible.

Soundtrack

Listen to the instrumental version of the zine here.

Printable Mini-Zine

Would you like a small portable version of the zine? Maybe you would like to print it off and hand it to other people or hide it somewhere. You can do just that with this one page mini-zine version. You’ll find instructions for how to fold and cut it below. Use double sided printing (both the same way up) or print two sheets and stick them together back-to-back.

Kota Conversation Replay

We met in the Kota on Sunday 3rd November to watch the audio/visual zine and chat afterwards. Logged-in members can catch up with our conversation here.