DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Katie Madigan

Paul Hanstedt

INQ 110 Other Places

November 19, 2014

                                                What are we Seeking Essay

            Humans are social creatures.  Since the beginning of our existence, we’ve been pack animals through and through.  As we’ve moved up in time, our social tendencies have remained.  The real question is however, are we where we really belong?  Or is there somewhere out there where we are truly meant to be?  Better yet, is where we belong even a place or is it a state of being?  Everyone, no matter who they are, craves that sense of belonging.  Some are lucky enough to be born into it while others spend lifetimes searching for that certain place to just be.

 

            In Catherine Watson’s piece, Where the Roads Diverged, she goes in detail about her time and love for Easter Island and how it really became a part of her identity.  From a young age, she felt a deep love and fascination with the island.  As she grew older, her love for the wondrous place only grew and filled her with a sense of longing.  Before she eventually made her trip to the Pacific, she recalled “taking refuge in daydreams- always about somewhere else, somewhere distant and strange, where a stranger like me might better fit.” (Watson).  By the time she’d reached her early thirties, her dream had become a reality; she’d made it to Easter Island.  Almost right from the get-go, she feels that the island is where she is truly meant to belong and she goes one to describe her time and memories there as if they were a past lover.  In a way, Easter Island was her lover.  Not in the literal sense, of course, but in the way that her time there made her discover who she really was and what she had to offer.  She had found her place of belonging.

 

 At one time or another, we’ve all felt the need to find the place where we belong.  Furthermore, we search for those places of belonging as to really find ourselves.  It’s what drives us to live our lives and move forward.  One struggle that we may encounter in life though is when we have found that place but then have uproot and leave that feeling behind.  Transitions are tough but as human beings, it’s in our nature to adapt.  There’s a famous saying that goes along the lines of “when one door closes, another one opens”.  Basically, we may have to move on, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll have to lose ourselves along the way.

 

In Taylor Santos’ blog post, Butterflies, she talks about her love for dancing competitively and how it’s always been a significant part of her life.  College is a huge transition for everyone, no matter what their scenario is and it’s in everyone’s best interest to find something that they feel strongly enough to pursue.  In Taylor’s case, she wanted to immerse herself back into dancing.  It was her passion and it was where she felt her true self come out.  In her post, she talks about preparing for her audition for the dance team and how her “nerves were up the wall, so many questions running through [her] head” (Santos).  Feeling nervous before something like an audition is completely understandable.  Dancing is her life and one cannot just give something like that up and move on.  It is what makes her feel like she belongs.  Unlike Watson, her belonging isn’t a place, it’s an action.  Why wouldn’t she pursue dancing in college? In a way, dancing is her home.

 

Belonging doesn’t have to be a place, or a person, or even a thing.  Really, it is a state of mind.  We belong where we are happy, with what makes us happy, with what makes us feel alive.  Everyone deserves to feel that way.  Catherine Watson felt it in Easter Island and Taylor Santos felt it with her dancing.  At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how we come about it or when in our lives that we discover it.  All that matters is that we find it, that we cherish it.  To live life without finding that sense of belonging is to scarcely live at all.  Find your passions, find what you love, and above all, find where you belong.  Then, and only then, will you be able to discover who you really are.

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.