The Lost Language of Belonging
There is a language that doesn’t need words— The language of being known, recognized, and remembered. In the world of the village, people were fluent in this language. Names mattered. Stories were passed down like treasures. If you disappeared, someone would notice. If you wept, arms would open. Today, many of us long for that kind of belonging—a place where we don’t have to explain ourselves to be understood, where our quirks are familiar rather than odd, where we are celebrated for simply showing up. It’s easy to lose this language in the busyness of modern life. But it isn’t gone; it’s waiting to be spoken again. Maybe it starts with a quiet question: Who is missing from my table? Who needs to be seen? How can I offer the gentle presence I crave? We can reclaim the lost language of belonging, one act of noticing at a time.