I am incredibly interested in the cultures here at steemit, so leave me a comment on where you come from (I’ll also follow you).
Now lets try a dab at philosophy.
From the beginning of my teen years, I have traveled from country to country, culture to culture, and experienced vital lessons from these locations. However, I realize that my ability to do this has become substantially harder as people have become increasingly aware of my differentiation from their culture (the drinking age in America sucks, but I did not realize how uptight people were about this at first!). I understand why culture is very important to individuals; but it seems that despite an increasingly interconnected world, people are becoming more defensive and aggressive when it comes to culture. It seems that people are both afraid of appropriating other cultures and leaving their own roots when it comes to their own. But I fundamentally believe, after living in multiple countries, that in order to truly learn and appreciate other cultures one has to rid oneself of fear from either one of those things. Culture, I believe, is not something one has a birth right to, but rather something that an individual can grow and adapt. That thought process has allowed me to explore and adopt many different cultures that has bettered me as a person. The drive of the Germans, the wit of the Brits, the laid back hospitality of the Dutch, it has all allowed me to change me for the better and make me the way I am today. We are not part of one culture, we are ourselves our own culture.
For me understanding culture and the background of others is the most important way in forming new and unexpected friendships- I value sites like this in which we can connect.
- I think this photo falls in the unexpected friendship category.
I hope you appreciate my new found attempt at philosophical language, my friend recently brought me a Nietzsche book and I’ve become a little caught up in his work. Nonetheless, I very much enjoyed writing this post.