Inspired by “The Morning: People Want to Belong – How People Are Searching for Belonging” by Lauren Jackson, published in The New York Times
Belief and the Human Need for Belonging
(Because believing alone is like reserving a café table for one during Paris Fashion Week—stylish, but lonely)
In a continent where ancient ruins sit next to start-ups and debates about cheese can outlast parliaments, one thing is clear: people are not just looking for something to believe in—they are looking for somewhere to believe together.
Beliefs are everywhere. In organic markets, Nordic minimalism, the eternal superiority of Dutch cycling infrastructure. But belief on its own? That is like a Viennese waltz danced solo—technically impressive, but missing the warmth.
As Lauren Jackson observed in The Morning, people crave more than purpose—they crave connection.
And Europe, with its patchwork of languages, traditions, and slow food festivals, understands that belonging often matters more than the belief itself.
Belonging turns a viewpoint into a tradition.
It transforms “I am interested in climate issues” into “I attend local assemblies and have strong opinions about wind turbines in the Black Forest.”
It makes “I support the arts” mean “I volunteer at the fringe theatre and get into heated debates about Bergman vs. Fellini.”
When older forms of community—parishes, unions, quiet university cafés (even, dare we say it, Rotary Clubs) —feel thinner than before, people improvise.
They find new tribes in cycling clubs that discuss politics during Alpine climbs, online reading circles devoted to Polish poetry, or Berlin collectives that organise everything from philosophy nights to plant swaps.
Even when the world feels absurd—and let us admit, bureaucracy alone can do that—there is comfort in shared irony, shared ritual, and shared fondness for midnight trains that never quite run on time.
Believing matters, of course.
But belonging?
That is what transforms belief into culture, strangers into comrades, and yet another opinion into a toast over Belgian beer and a quote misattributed to Camus.