#3 Understand your roots
Culture and history can ground us
Dear R&M,
The world can be pretty confusing. And our world, in many ways a product of our privilege has been one of living in many different towns, cities and even countries. There are times when that seems great and other times when it’s discomfiting.
So right now when you live amongst others who look nothing like you and come from very different contexts and backgrounds, it can be all the more disconcerting. Of course even when you lived amongst people who looked just like you you have felt out of place. Welcome to the human condition. At least in my case, many of these changes were of my own volition. Many, particularly in the Western world, are finding the world around them changing and there’s little they can do about it. So in the midst of the change — hopefully growth — that each of us is undergoing and the change the world around us is undergoing, it’s hard to feel grounded. It is for this reason that I want you to recall, remember and understand your own roots.
Our culture (which transcends our country) is one of collectivism — caring for one another, putting the welfare of the family and the community front and center. Take comfort and pride in this and you can build sustain this culture wherever you go and sink new roots.
It is of course worth keeping in mind to, “Please put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others”
