How do I build community and belonging when I don't fit the expected mold?

Mirabai didn't fit. A high-caste woman devoted to a cowherd god, singing in the streets, rejecting marriage to a king, grieving openly—by every measure of her time, she was wrong. But she found her people. Not her family. Not the temple hierarchy. She found other devotees, other seekers, people who recognized something true in her that the rules denied. Your people might not be who you thought they'd be. They might not share your background, your class, your skin color, your family structure. They might be cobbled together from different parts of your life. The examined heart that Mirabai kept—that's what builds real community. Not performing wellness or togetherness, but actual presence with people who see you. Start there: not with who you're supposed to belong with, but with who makes you feel less alone when you're honest. Sometimes it's one person. Sometimes it's a scattered group that never all meets in one room. That's okay. Belonging is not about fitting the mold. It's about finding people who want to know the real shape you actually are.