Exactly what is culture? This is something that many often overlook because they don't have an exact definition for it. Many will say they either have or don't have a culture which is mostly due to the fact that many associate this with race or ethnicity. When in reality, culture is not just being part of a race or religious group, it is much more than that. In fact, everyone has a culture, they may just not know it because they don't understand what culture is.
According to the Merriam-Webster, culture is defined as "the set of shared attitudes, customary beliefs, values, customs, social forms, and goals of a certain group of people or place". This is a very long definition don't you think? Now this is not just one definition, because if you actually look it up you will get about 3 or 4 different definitions. This definition is just a mixture of multiple definitions, which in my opinion makes more sense because one definition does not apply to everyone.
This is a very long definition, I know, so in order to help you understand here is another. Culture is an identity. It defines who you are as a person. It impacts the way you think, the decisions you make, and how you perceive the world around you. However, keep in mind that you are not the only one with a culture as I stated before EVERYONE has a culture. Meaning other people's culture will impact the way they perceive cultures that are different from theirs. This can be in both positive and negative ways. Either way I think it's safe to say that learning about something new can't hurt a person. It doesn't cost you to listen and you don't have to agree nor do you have to disagree, the goal is just to listen :) Which leads to the next discussion...
Within this blog you will read about culture. You will learn about different cultures around the nation and within this very community. These will be things such as customs, values, and beliefs of a specific culture. You will hear stories from people and their journey within their culture. You will also hear about the struggles of fitting in within a culture or how people have changed their culture. You will hear multiple sides of a culture as each one will have a different perspective on it. Lastly, although everyone has a culture there can be multiple people within the same culture, but that doesn’t mean everyone will identify their culture the same way.
Each person will have different experiences and perspectives which means the idea of their culture will look different than someone else who is in the same culture.
Regardless of the culture, we hope that by reading about them, you will learn something from them. Either you will resonate with these cultures or maybe it will leave you thinking about something deeper.
Whatever your thoughts are, we hope that by sharing these stories and experiences, it will help to bring an understanding between people and hopefully create a bridge in the gap between cultures.
Can't wait to read a blog post about your culture 😁 !!
Laysa this is awesome. We look forward to seeing future blog posts!