On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation  
Kim Samuel
Abrams Press (September 2022)

You are large, you contain multitudes…just like everyone else.

The title of this brief commentary channels a reassurance from Walt Whitman in “Song of Myself.” Many people today feel disconnected from others and perhaps from themselves. They feel that they don’t fit in, that no one cares about them, and that they have little (if anything) to live for. Kim Samuel wrote this book in order to help them to make appropriate connections and develop mutually beneficial relationships within and beyond their workplace.

She addresses specific questions such as these:

o What are the basic patterns of belonging and how can I benefit from them?
o What is social isolation and to what extent is it self-imposed?
o What is the “shadow side” of belonging?
o How to prepare for and then begin a quest for belonging?
o What are the most important dos and don’ts to keep in mind once embarked?

o What does it mean to become and remain “at home within myself”?
o What is “place” insofar as belonging is concerned?
o When designing the “City of Imagination,” what should be kept in mind?
o How to initiate and then sustain reciprocal caregiving?
o What are the systems of belonging?

o What are the defining characteristics of each system?
o Is the right to belong granted? If so, by whom?
o If not, how best to obtain it?
o How to belong to a shared global future?
o What are the greatest barriers to belonging? How best to avoid or overcome each barrier?

No brief commentary such as mine could possibly do full justice to the value of the information, insights, and counsel that Kim Samuel provides in abundance. However, I hope I have at least indicated why I think so highly of her and her work. These are her concluding observations:

“We don’t have to be the center of the universe; it is enough to be part of it.
It is enough that we belong.
Indeed, it is only everything.”

I now offer two concluding suggestions of my own: Highlight key passages, and, keep a lined notebook near at hand while reading On Belonging in which you record your comments, questions, and page references. These two simple tactics will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key material later.