Resources on Belonging for Our SPARK Members
"We are because we belong."
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu

"Belonging is not about bypassing our individual crises so we feel better in our individual bubbles."
-Sebene Selassie, "You Belong"

"Adore yourself. Imagine each new day filled with this devotion for your being, greeting each day with the simple invitation to allow love. Allow love to flow to all the parts of your life. And as you allow love for yourself, love for everything else will follow, in time. right now: Love yourself. Love yourself. Love yourself."
-Sebene Selassie, "You Belong"

Hello SPARK Community!

Below are resources following SPARK's program with Sebene Selassie on her new book - "You Belong: A Call to Connection." We are so grateful that you are part of our connected SPARK neighborhood where you always belong.

Also, stay tuned for more from SPARK on kindness, justice and belonging to each other via our newsletters and social media.

Thank you for your partnership, participation and feedback!
The SPARK Team
Resources from Sebene Selassie
Some resources from SPARK + Sebene Selassie to support you during these unprecedented times!
Sebene Selassie Website, Resources + Contact Info

Sebene Selassie's Book! (Contains all of the info from the program)

Sebene's Meditations

Featured Podcasts with Sebene

From the 10 Percent Happier Podcast

SPARK Resources
At this challenging time, SPARK is leaning in to our mission - to connect and support our community and harness the power of kindness to create positive change. Financial support is critical. As a small nonprofit, we are grateful for all donations to help sustain our work as we continue to provide free programming and services to everyone who needs support. Thank you - we are grateful for YOU!
From Sebene's Book - Buy the Book for More Insight!

1. Ground Yourself
  • "If the only prayer you ever said was 'Thank you,' it would be enough." - Meister Eckhart
  • "Belonging starts here. In gratitude for the body." - Sebene Selassie, "You Belong," p. 71

2. Know Yourself
  • "You belong to everything. First, you must belong to yourself." - Sebene Selassie, "You Belong," p. 108
  • "We can't have a connection to everything if we're trying to get rid of the self that is the very vehicle to experience connection." - Sebene Selassie, "You Belong," p. 138

3. Love Yourself
  • "When we truly love ourselves, we don't need to be someone or something else. When we love ourselves, our sense of separation softens, the need to dominate dissolves. Comparison and competition clear away in the presence of self-love. Hierarchy and oppression crumble. We belong." - Sebene Selassie, "You Belong," p. 139
  • "White supremacy occurs at both a collective and individual level. Goodness and competence are projected onto white people while deviance and incompetence are projected on the other." -Sebene Selassie, "You Belong," p. 159

4. Connect Yourself
  • "We are always connected. We just need to remember it - and learn to be aware of it. Throughout this book, we have laid he groundwork for feeling more intimacy within ourselves. Now we are ready to feel the matrix of life within which we exist." Sebene Selassie, "You Belong," p. 168

5. Be Yourself
  • "We do have power. We each have the power of being and belonging. That power needs to be nurtured and cultivated, individually and collectively. Every day." Sebene Selassie, "You Belong," p. 219
Video: Reflections and Meditation with Sebene
Poem Quoted by Sebene by John O'Donohue
For Longing

Blessed be the longing that brought you here
And quickens your soul with wonder.

May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire
That disturbs you when you have settled for something safe.

May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease
To discover the new direction your longing wants you to take.

May the forms of your belonging—in love, creativity, and friendship—
Be equal to the grandeur and the call of your soul.

May the one you long for long for you.

May your dreams gradually reveal the destination of your desire.

May a secret Providence guide your thought and nurture your feeling.

May your mind inhabit life with the sureness with which your body inhabits the world.

May your heart never be haunted by ghost-structures of old damage.

May you come to accept your longing as divine urgency.

May you know the urgency with which God longs for you.
A Reminder Inspired by Sebene's Program
Lovingkindness Meditation from Laura McCarthy SPARK Small Group Program Leader
SPARK Spotlight Community Partners
Good Bank. Good Neighbor. That's the motto for MutualOne Bank, and we could not agree more! SPARK is grateful for MutualOne Charitable Foundation's ongoing support of our "Resilient Community" free programming! And, we are honored to recognize them as a Spotlight Community Partner! Learn more about the Foundation's work HERE!
Natick is United - Valuing Difference + Belonging
Thank you to another SPARK Spotlight Community Partner - Natick is United - “We are a community where we value differences and everyone belongs.”
  • Learn more about Natick is United and read their full mission statement HERE.
  • Follow them on Facebook - HERE!
  • Subscribe to their newsletter - HERE!
  • Attend their Virtual Town Meeting - HERE
SPARK Kindness is a community convener, educator, resource, and friend—and the biggest fan of our shared strengths. Join us in Natick and our growing network of communities.