When the same themes keep coming up in my life, I pay attn to the trends. Feels like somehow a msg is trying to get thru to me to share. That’s been the case w the concept of “acceptance” the past few wks.
I’ve been on the road mtg w schools & colleges since the calendar turned. We do a vulnerability exercise in breakout sessions where we ask – what challenges they believe their classmates/teammates are facing most…& then what challenges they’re facing. They get to answer anonymously & responses come up in bar charts on the screen. By far the most common response that’s come up across schools has been “fitting in…feeling accepted.”
At St. Xavier University yesterday, mtg w their Athletic Director, he told me abt their own surveys & convos w the student athletes…& the most common complaint: feeling isolated & like they don’t have a group they fit in w. These are students ON TEAMS!
Then I was talking w two of the members of our celeb alliance since 1/1…both are men…both grew up in households where one or both of their parents left…both (in separate convos) shared how they’re now middle aged – & they still struggle w the concept of feeling accepted & like they’re wanted, bc of their parent(s) leaving. They shared how often, their behaviors, even NOW, are based on trying to prove their worth/so that others accept them.
It’s so apparent that from a young age, from our caregivers, friends & fam, we have this desire (need?) to fit in somewhere…to know we’re wanted as a “member.”
Next slide➡️ prob the most impt podcast we’ve ever done: we had @aarontaylorcfb on to dive deep into the Damar Hamlin event. Why did that event bring so many of us together, feeling a part of something bigger than ourselves? Why’d it take a shared trauma experience to bring abt that togetherness? Why is our society so hungry for that connection?
Why do we do questionable things (or over compensate w behaviors) when we don’t have these moments that naturally bring us together? Such a meaningful convo. I’ll share the link.
