“I felt it shelter to speak to you.”
Emily Dickinson

We gather in a group to be witnessed, to be supported, and to be both equalized and elevated in our struggles, gifts, and ambitions. Common ground is very fertile ground…it is, what Emerson calls, “…the common heart of which all sincere conversation is worship.” Where two or more are joined with the same intention, grace intensifies and solutions multiply. Belongingness heals and nourishes with its affirmative recognition that we are not alone. Simultaneously, we are able to experience our unity and our uniqueness.

Who hears you? Whose greatness do you foster in return?

It’s essential to have a posse. I have my “Goddesses”—five of us who meet almost monthly with one purpose: to tell each other what’s really going on in our lives. We’re a mismatched gang that began when one woman said, “I’m having a potluck of cool chicas next week. Whoever shows up, shows up.” It was just the five of us who made it—some of us already friends, some of us new to each other, and it was clear at the end of our first night together that we had to do more of this. And in just two years of homemade soups and dessert and other bubbly things, we’ve gone through life-altering decisions, marriage melt downs, new babies, business epics, world travels, heart wrenching loss, and amazing successes. We would move mountains to help each other. I love knowing that we happened by intention and by serendipity.

Support groups don’t have to be your “tribe.” You don’t need to match; you don’t need to have history. You just need one common intention: to support each other. If you don’t have that group in place, go make one. There are most definitely other people looking to join.

Danielle LaPorte is the outspoken creator of The Desire Map, author of The Fire Starter Sessions (Random House/Crown), co-creator of Your Big Beautiful Book Plan, and soon-to-be publisher of DANIELLE Magazine, launching in early 2014. An inspirational speaker, former think tank exec, and business strategist, she writes weekly at DanielleLaPorte.com, where over a million visitors have gone for her straight-up advice—a site that’s been deemed “the best place on-line for kick-ass spirituality” and was named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes.

You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter @daniellelaporte.

*Featured image by James DeMers