Day 1203: Membership

Because I’m a member of the board for an organization of group therapists,  I’ll be attending a meeting on the topic of “Membership” today.

Because I’m a member of the three-person committee planning today’s meeting, I’ll be facilitating members sharing thoughts, feelings, and experiences of membership.

Because I’m a member of the blogging community, I’m sharing some thoughts, feelings, and experiences of membership here before I leave for the meeting.

Here are some quotes about membership (found here and here):

“Membership has its privileges.”  — American Express advertisement from the 1980s

“Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.” — Groucho Marx

“Every adult, whether he is a follower or a leader, a member of a mass or of an elite, was once a child. He was once small. A sense of smallness forms a substratum in his mind, ineradicably. His triumphs will be measured against this smallness; his defeats will substantiate it.” — Erik Erikson

“If I could get my membership fee back, I’d resign from the human race.” — Fred Allen

“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” —  Mia Hamm

“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.” —  Mark Twain

“Coming out is a means of redefining oneself, of claiming membership in a lifestyle and a social order with distinct values. Chief among these values is honesty.” — Lance Loud

“I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” — Will Rogers

“Having cancer gave me membership in an elite club I’d rather not belong to.” — Gilda Radner

“The world of science and the world of literature have much in common. Each is an international club, helping to tie mankind together across barriers of nationality, race and language. I have been doubly lucky, being accepted as a member of both.” — Freeman Dyson

“What is the recipe for successful achievement? To my mind there are just four essential ingredients: Choose a career you love, give it the best there is in you, seize your opportunities, and be a member of the team.” — Benjamin Franklin Fairless

“In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself.” — Albert Einstein

“What characterizes a member of a minority group is that he is forced to see himself as both exceptional and insignificant, marvelous and awful, good and evil.” —  Norman Mailer

“You are a member of the British royal family. We are never tired, and we all love hospitals.” —  Queen Mary

Here’s my own quote about “Membership,” this morning:

How I feel about membership in any group depends on whether it’s a group I have chosen or it’s a group that has been chosen for me.

Do any of my photos from yesterday relate to today’s topic of “Membership”?

Thanks to all human and non-human members who helped me create today’s post and thanks to you — of course! — for being a member of my blogging community, here and now.