6/23/24, Entry 3: Find Positive Peers
Philosophical literature was the mental and spiritual sustenance I needed to embark on my formidable journey, but I hit a bump on the road when I felt the onset of loneliness. I didn’t know why I was feeling lonely until I noticed a pattern in my behavior. Every time I felt alone inside I would make a phone call just to briefly connect with someone. After one phone call I went back to my cell and realized that the missing element was companionship.
It all made sense when I read Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which encompasses: social needs, i.e., the need to belong. However, before I learned about this hierarchy I recalled that philosophical leaders cautioned about the people you interact with because you become a part of the ideology of that group: in other words if you hang out with a group long enough you begin to think, speak, and act like them.
The ‘Aha’ moment hit me: everything I thought I knew, or had an idea about was the product of a negative peer group. With an understanding of the influence peers can have on a person’s behavior I understood that I had to find positive peers in order to satisfy the human need to belong, but then came the question: where can I find positive peers in prison?
