Someone, I do not recall who, wrote a very good article about supporting each other within SearchWarp.
What follows also has to do with support, but presented in a different way, and why I have named this article, TO BELONG .
What does the word "belong" mean?
One can use the word "belong" in many ways and sentences, but to me, belong means especially one important thing.
It also means to fit in and that to me has some other powerful meanings.
However, for you to understand my interpretation of fit in, you must understand my past.
I am new to SearchWarp and tomorrow, 9-11, I have been a member for three weeks. When I was first invited to join, I was apprehensive, and I felt ill at ease.
Though I had recently introduced a book, Memoirs of an Immigrant, I was a novice, and still am, and I did not feel I could belong in the SearchWarp society of authors and writers.
I am a nobody and all of you are somebody.
I knew that some of you would get upset when I said that.
Listen to me! Calm down! Do not get angry.
Social status, or class, is very prevalent in Norway , and when I arrived in Sweden and lived there for four years, many made sure to tell me I did not belong, including my professor in college.
This really did not bother me because my social status was considered nil to none and I had learned to accept that. Also, my father was a fisherman, a man of low esteem, and if I had to talk to you I was not allowed to address you as a you. I had to say Mister, or Aunt if a woman older then me.
So maybe I have a complex, or that most people are better then me.
Therefore, and if there is any Norwegians amongst you who are reading this, you know what I mean, or that "over there" we had to worry about addressing a person as a du or as a De, both in Norway and Sweden .
I do not worry about it any more, but every so often it will pop up. Or, - Do I belong? Will I fit in?
And here is what I really wanted to tell you
It pleases me beyond words to receive a comment on my computer, and always good at that, or that so and so has joined my fan club.
It may not mean much to you, but to this son of a fisher man, it means the world.
It means that you have accepted my writings, be they good or bad, and that I am allowed to walk within your circle.
And so I thank all of you for having accepted me, and for having joined my fan club. That includes Judge Drew and Lorrie Davids who joined today.
PS. Lorrie is about to become a grandma. You folks did not know that, did you?
Anyway, so it used to be and today I live on a street with professionals all around me, but it has taken a tremendous effort to adjust and adopt.
Be well, Thank you and God Bless,
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