Focus on Belonging

Belonging is often tied to place — a hometown, a country, an office, a group. It’s seen as something fixed and rooted, something predefined. Yet, as my guest in episode 510, Cultural Dimensions, Marina Ibrahim explores so vividly, belonging isn’t always about fitting neatly into one box — or even any box at all.

Growing up with an Egyptian father and a German mother, Marina wrestled with a quiet but persistent question: Am I too Egyptian for the Germans, or too German for the Egyptians? That sense of being in-between wasn’t a limitation; it became an invitation to explore, experiment and expand her identity. She tested different environments — living in Egypt, returning to Germany, experiencing life in France — each one a kind of laboratory for asking, where do I fit?

The answer, it turns out, was both simple and complex: nowhere and everywhere at once.

It’s easy to think of belonging as something granted by others. 'Where are you from?' is rarely just a geographical question — it can be a search for classification, sometimes an opening for connection, and sometimes a signal of difference. For Marina, the answer is layered and nuanced. But the deeper insight is this: belonging, much like purpose, isn’t something you simply find — it’s something you create. And it starts within.

True belonging is fluid. It expands through curiosity — when you approach new cultures, environments and people not as an outsider seeking approval, but as a guest willing to listen, engage and explore. Marina describes playfulness as a powerful source of resilience and freedom — a readiness to try, to get things wrong and to adapt.

For her, Britain became a kind of 'sweet spot' — not because it reflected her roots, but because it offered the space and openness to shape her own sense of home.

The rigid boundaries of belonging are softening. Your sense of home, your people, even your answer to 'where are you from?' are now shaped as much by what you create as by what you inherit. It’s less about choosing between worlds and more about building your own — both within and around you.

Focus on Belonging. Focus on Why.

REFLECTION WITH ACTION: Where do you feel most ‘at home’ right now and what small step could you take to create a greater sense of belonging, for yourself or someone else, today?