Welcome. I’m glad you’ve found your way here.
Human Together features conversations on the communal life. Through essays and podcast episodes, we explore what it means to be people who agree it is not good to be alone (but secretly wonder whether it would be easier). It is for we who waver between longing and belonging, intimacy and isolation, making plans and then breaking them. This is a space where we ask:
What does it mean to be human?
And how can we be a little more human together?
Because we are crafted for more than life at the surface, and we want to find deep and sustainable ways of relating to God and each other, right in the midst of our everyday lives.
Hey there. I’m Sarah.
I created Human Together because I’ve held deep questions about belonging since I could spell my own name. While my career has been community-building in classrooms, colleges campuses, and creative spaces, I recognize that being able to connect in meaningful ways is not easy. It often shifts as we change or people change or pandemics sweep across the globe.
But in its simplest form, a communal life is a shared life, and what we do here at Human Together is look for the ways we overlap by embracing curiosity, asking questions, cultivating compassion, and listening with the desire to expand in our love for God and each other.
Professionally, I’m a lifelong writer, question-asker, and contemplative who has worked for many years in the worlds of publishing and community-building. I have degrees in both English Ed (B.S.) and Student Development Counseling (M.A.), which opened the doors to careers that have given me a front-row seat to see how identity, faith, and community intersect. My mind is always swirling on these things, especially in relation to my Christian faith and what it really means to live and love in the way of Jesus. In June 2024, I released my first book with InterVarsity Press, The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who We Are and How We Relate.
But on a more personal note, I’ve been married to my favorite person, Ben, for 20 years, and we are parents to four sons and one emotional and uncertain Australian shepherd-terrier pup, Georgie. Our not-so-little family calls Indiana home.
What to Expect
You do not have to have any certain set of beliefs or ideas to be here. I hope we can have respectful discourse across great differences as we create room for one another. However, I do not want you to be surprised to find that I write and speak about the communal life from the perspective that life with God and each other are woven together.
From essays to podcast episodes, you can expect most of what you find here to be highly narrative, contemplative, and conversational. I also share personal updates and book news from time to time.
As a subscriber, you get access to all essays and podcast episodes (you can also listen on Apple, Spotify, or another preferred platform). In 2024, you can also participate in our monthly book club. Everything is free, but if you resonate with the writing or want to support the podcast (helping us keep it ad-free), the paid subscription option is there (and we thank you!).
I invite you to interact. Ask questions. Raise a hand. Be an actual human person. But most of all, I hope you take what you find here and look for ways to embrace a communal life right where you are. I’m really glad you’re here.
To find out more about me (including my book The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who We Are and How We Relate), visit my author website: sarahewestfall.com.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
