There is a narrative, one that I’ve heard all my life, that everyone culture is absolutely-completely-so different. And that is true. However, I feel like I have let people completely separate my home in the U.S. to my one in Panama.
Yes, every place on Earth is distinctive from another. But, only focusing on those extremes can lead to a forgetfulness of what we all have in common. I will speak only for myself, but to me, all sorts of places in my life are individual worlds. My aunt’s kitchen in Panama and my own with my dad in it with me feels like the 3rd and the 5th of a chord- each is not the same without the other. But, for years, going a few miles down the road to school felt like flying to Mars (and getting motion sick along the way). I have a theory that everyone sorts people in places in their head because that’s how we organize our lives. I can’t lie, I love my self a good pattern and specific places I always put things. It’s natural, I’m not sure we always remember to keep it in check. Plenty of things don’t fit into boxes or have clear labels, and that’s okay. Things I’ve seen people do in both countries:
No one wants to be the same as everyone else, but always feeling completely different is exhausting. I try to remember that we are all people. We all think our families are a bit crazy and we most of us care about what others think of us, no matter what we say otherwise. We all eat, breathe, and love. That’s why we are here, to support each other even when we don’t understand the world we live in.
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Who Am I?Hi there! I'm Whit, my pronouns are they/them, and I write a lot.
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Painting by Whit Acrylics on masonite April 20th, 2019 Words are a Quaker saying. George Fox? |