September 5th, 2022

We all yearn for it. It leads to belonging which often leads to relationship and then love. To be outside of connection is to be lonely and disconnected which often leads to anxiety and depression. The pandemic isolated so many of us that mental health issues remain a major issue to this date. In this weeks podcast, Joy Warner and I go deep into why connection and leadership in school is so important.

Many children have struggles at home which lead to a lack of connection and happiness. School provides a safe location to connect and explore relationship with like minded or just accepting individuals. It also provides an adult mentorship that is life giving to many children in broken homes.

That is often enough for the marginalized among us. Have you ever wondered why a child would join a gang and commit violence? The answer lies with being connected and feeling a sense of belonging even if it is dysfunctional.

To be outside of a tribe is akin to being dead to our genetic code. The tribe was the only way to survive with historical violence and food hardship pressures. It is baked into our nervous system to be in a tribe to be alive. How can we think otherwise when the world seems to trivialize and divide so frequently now. Social media and political groups are counting on people's need to be in connection with like minded individuals as a means to make profit even at the cost of the countries unified health.

The goal for small and larger groups has to be how do we stay in connection through love and collective happiness as opposed to through divisions and dislike of others as we are seeing play out in the country in many spots. Unification is strength while division is weakness.

Dr. M