Finding Our Place

There is a kind of loneliness that doesn’t come from being alone.

It comes from being surrounded by people… yet still feeling unseen.

For many migrants and culturally diverse individuals, this feeling can be deeply familiar. We carry languages, traditions, values, and memories from places that shaped us. We carry resilience that often goes unrecognised. We build lives across worlds — navigating new systems, new environments, and new expectations.

And yet, so many people quietly carry the same question within them:

“Where do I belong?”

Not because they don’t want connection. But because connection is not always easy to reach.

Sometimes it’s the language barrier — not just speaking, but being understood.

Sometimes it’s confidence — shaped by years of feeling “out of place.”

Sometimes it’s health, pain, fatigue, or emotional weight that no one can see.

Sometimes it’s cultural difference — the sense that you are always adjusting, explaining, translating yourself. And

Sometimes, it’s simply the exhaustion of trying to fit into spaces that were never built with you in mind.

Belonging is not just about being included.

Belonging is when you feel safe enough to return.

It’s when you don’t have to perform, prove, or pretend. It’s when your story is met with understanding — not judgement. It’s when your identity is not questioned, and your presence is not treated like an inconvenience.

As a researcher and community practitioner, I’ve learnt that many of the challenges people face are not because support doesn’t exist……but because it doesn’t always feel accessible, trusted, or culturally safe.

That is why I am beginning a new community listening journey — Finding Our Place.

A space to hear real voices. To understand real barriers. And to co-create what belonging can look like in everyday life — across cultures, languages, and identities.

Because wellbeing doesn’t always begin with treatment.

Sometimes, it begins with being held by community.

If you’ve ever felt disconnected, unheard, or unsure where you fit — please know this:

You are not alone. And you don’t have to carry it silently.