Are you dying to belong? You’re not alone.

Belonging. Vulnerability. Confidence. Courage. They are all in the same circle.

Belonging… it might be the genesis of my curiosity in understanding people, personalities, and the dynamic of a relationship. I became a master at watching, listening, spotting the need, and figuring out how to fit in. On days when I am kinder to myself, I understand it is no surprise I struggle to belong – I never did. It’s an interesting dichotomy, being blessed to be different but always wanting to belong. Which do you choose, can you ever combine both, or do you live the rest of your life in an imaginary Venn diagram intersection that only exists in your head? Will you ever be able to accept and see there is in fact no Venn diagram – that it is just your plain ol’ two circles which will never touch?

In elementary school, I was the new kid coming from Cyprus, the kid who somehow spoke Arabic but didn’t know the Arabic alphabets.

In middle school, it was the opposite – why do you speak English well? In high school in UAE, a world of tanned skins and dark eyes.. why do you have green eyes and olive skin? I recall one day, I had a friend hold my head back, call the others in class saying “omg look, they’re so green, even has some yellow dots in it” – I have no clue what the yellow dots are. It felt good to be special. And it felt awful to stand out.