Connection and belonging matter because they help us with:
Parenting
Through connection we can find support to manage the practical and emotional demands of raising children.
Distress and loneliness
Connection to family and friends and belonging to a community can reduce distress and loneliness. They can make a huge difference to the wellbeing of children and families.
Safety
Connection can help us feel safer and actually make us be safer, because we know who we can go to in times of crisis and that others are looking out for us.
Learning
Connection can be a source of learning in important or difficult times. A safe space for not having the answers, asking questions, exploring.
Empathy
Feeling connected can make it easier to feel empathy. You may not have been through the same exact experience as someone else, but you can empathise with them and learn from each other.
Practical support
Connection can help us find practical support with the kids so you and your child can get a break from being your child’s only source of support or play. It can help us find practical help at home, access to free items like clothing, toys – a dinner now and then. Practical connections like these can go both ways, and we can find value being able to give back.
Strength
Connection and belonging make us strong by giving us reasons to:
- stay alive
- wake up; and
- bounce back against the odds.
They give us a sense of purpose but also of being valued for the contributions we make to the lives of other people. Hope, strength and the power to fight for what we care about.
Wellbeing
When we feel connected as a family, there can be a lightness, a calmness, a sense of ease or security. Connection makes it possible to laugh together. It’s easy to be angry by yourself, but to do the opposite – to find ways to love and to be empathetic and to laugh – you need other people to do it with. Relationships run both ways.