Longing to Belong

From the moment of our birth, our sense of self starts to spin in the midst of a giant floor, comprising of a number of groups that we socially or inherently naturally fall into and also those others that we choose to belong to by our own volitions. Our membership in such groups determines the quality of our lives and states of mind that we simply do not provide enough credit to.

Whether it's a criterion as immutable as age or as malleable as a preference in a certain board game, most of us find an indescribable amount of solace and reassurance in the idea that other people, too, enjoy or hate, identify or dissociate, regarding the same things that we do. These simple preferences, whether we realise it or not, are part of a much more elaborate tapestry of threads that can immediately be recognised when seen in isolation just as well as they are examined as a whole. While many do hold the ideal of not discriminating between those who belong to ingroups and outgroups, this is a concept that we can thank evolutionary psychology for when huddling together with those of our tribe offered security and higher chances of survival than trusting outsiders. 

While objectivity is indeed important, it must be admitted that there is always a certain level of satisfaction that we get when we observe that our friends, or even complete strangers, share our belief systems and political opinions, or even just prefers one television series over another. There is an instant connection like those of us lucky enough to have a fast WiFi would be able to appreciate. 

With the context of the ongoing pandemic, the potential for the bonds that we cultivate with what little socialising is possible is something dear that we hold in our hearts. For those of us forming groups within the period of these lockdowns, with an online class that most of us have only glimpsed over the screen, as in the case with our bloggers, is undeniably a challenging task. But humans do tend to be a stubborn species, so we might as well give it a shot. 

- Nikhil