Title: The Great Belonging
Year: 2020
Writer: Charlotte Donlon
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
Since the beginning of Winter 2020 my book group at Saint Benedict's Table, an Anglican church located in downtown Winnipeg, has been meeting up via Zoom on Thursday evenings to discuss Charlotte Donlon's The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. Originally hosted by Rev Rachel Twigg, and myself in the Spring , the book group has proven to to be necessary during the covid-19 pandemic where we're all feeling a little more lonely than usual.
With The Great Belonging, writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon helps us understand our own occasional or frequent loneliness and offers touchpoints for understanding alienation.
The book, which should belong on any guidance counselor's bookshelf, is a welcoming invite to a remarkable & engaging discussion about a feeling or state of mind that is universal. The approach is different from many authors, as most would fill their book up with platitudes & be overly sentimental. Donlon's approach is thoughtful, personal, honest & doesn't try to find an easy solution. Donlon approaches very serious topics, like mental illness, with very little hesitancy.
Speaking to the many kinds of multi-facted aspects of loneliness, The Great Belonging is a work you'll want to keep for years, as you may need it in times of difficulty and isolation. While the book does discuss Faith & Christianity, it is not solely a religious work, as even a person who is not well versed in Religion, like myself, can find themselves finding quite a large amount of introspection within.
The Great Belonging is filled with short meditations that help makes sense of one's loneliness & will help one unpack their turmoil through great self-reflection. Charlotte is an easy person to connect with; her words sooth your mind & make you feel like you're not facing your troubles alone.
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