Belonging to groups of people

The ancient named it oneness, the modern call it interdependence, and sportsmen refer to it as teamwork.

Who are we if we don’t belong to other groups of people? Can a person navigate through life without others?

At the moment of a baby’s first breath, she’s assigned a family (actually, she was assigned a family 9 months earlier). Teenagers at school will naturally congregate with groups of friends. Adults lead their family, complete projects at work with a team, and/or belong to organizations that they believe in.

We belong to other groups of people throughout our whole life.

In prison, a common form of punishment is isolation (also known as solitary confinement or “the hole”). When a person is miserable and depressed, he often isolates himself. Isolation for long periods of time is not healthy.

There’s no question that we need each other. We are incomplete without others in a very literal way. Our spiritual, psychological, and physical health are all dependent on belonging to other groups of people.

If that’s not a humbling thought, I’m not sure what is.