A nudge to change perspectives and to negotiate our respective realities.
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I won’t change the world for sure, but I hope I can help shape some perceptions about it. And to also give voice to some struggles – struggles to understand and be understood. Struggles to adapt to new situations and to integrate into different societies. I believe that if we come to understand the processes that shape our view of the world, we will be able to understand how and why we are divided on so many fronts and what causes these differences that are perceived as irreconcilable. We can learn this by opening our minds to unfamiliar ideas and by knowing and engaging ourselves with others’ experiences.
Doing that enables us to identify the roots of our divisions and understand the dynamics shaping our differences. We are all conditioned by our background and nurturing framework; all shaped by our arbitrary position in society and we must first realize the extent of our conditionings, if we ever want to resolve our conflicts and communicate with one another.
I hope to present some food for thought on many contentious topics that centre around cultural differences. Can we all come to acknowledge our differences as well as our similarities in a world that is increasingly interconnected and multicultural?
Throughout my personal journey which crosses a few cultures, I found myself very often wondering…
If human values are universal, how come different cultures have developed so differently and what are the various factors that have affected this process? What are the lessons we can learn?
Which values are universal and which are cultural? What about individual differences? Are they more nature or nurture?
Why are women and men so profoundly different?
What are some of the root problems of maintaining a long-term relationship? Is it harder when it is intercultural?
Why do people not change their minds even when presented with evidence to the contrary?
This is what this blog is about: Cultures. Empathy. Human relationships.
This is a nudge to step outside one’s own conditioned self and see or feel things from another person’s perspective. To be able to do that…to develop this sort of empathy is a primary asset when dealing with different cultures.
Topics
So if you are interested in the pursuit of happiness, if you are puzzled by the myth of efficiency or confused by the over connectedness and yet deeper isolation of our modern times, you might find my posts interesting.
If you believe in the toxicity of loneliness, the beauty of human nature and the complexity of our relationships; if you are interested in the many perils of being a woman, the predicament of a trailing spouse and the many challenges of female empowering movements; if you are troubled by the violent divisions that fracture our societies; the diversity of our value systems and the ever more apparent clash of worldviews , you will find my blog relevant.
If you are as curious as I am and as seeking for answers, you will want to read my blog.
This blog is the outcome of a trajectory that is my personal journey. My life has changed in considerable ways when I moved to Switzerland, making me reflect on most of the ways I have been socialized and made me identify many issues that are at the heart of the immigration experience and are pressing contemporary topics. These issues revolve around how we perceive one another, how we relate to what is different from us and how we communicate with ‘others’. See my biography
“It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others.” -Andrew J. Holmes
The short way of saying what this blog is about: I wanted to share the lessons I have learnt and the questions I find relevant.
I wanted to share my experiences and how my worldview evolved with them. I want to show solidarity with people who have had a similar journey, to give consolation to people who struggle to adapt to different ways of life and think it is because of them and to tell them that they are not struggling alone. I also want to compel some people that they may look at certain topics differently without the confidence of their own default view – that they might know that theirs is not the only viable perspective or legitimate view. As I have repeatedly observed, there are many different ways of experiencing the world – leading to different perspectives…different realities. That leads to communication where different individuals and parties engage in negotiating their respective realities without being entirely aware of the issues separating their views.
Different topics and types of writings
Some of my writings contain the culmination of that evolution process within one idea such as one I am preparing about the role of a mother across cultures. Others, represent the feelings and thoughts I experienced during various stages of my journey. For most topics, it is a personal experience which I start by analysing then I expand to a broader theme.
Who would be interested to read my blog?
So, you can think of it this way: If you are a person who has gone through a similar experience, even coming from a different part of the world, then perhaps you will relate -even if you have settled in a different country.
If you are living in Switzerland, the cultural aspect might present you with a different view on what you have experienced. Maybe you will disagree with me.
If you have strong opinions about how we organise our lives, how we define our role in the world, how we can resolve our conflicts or any of the various topics that my experience has evoked, you might want to know mine.
Objectives
There are different layers to my motivation to write this blog.
There is a merely personal one, where I want to simply put down my thoughts and ideas. I want to develop them further and get feedback.
I want to be inspired.
I have been afflicted by a strong need to communicate my conscious thoughts and deliberations – a need to reach out…to ultimately connect with a wider world. Perhaps it also serves as a purpose that is unique to me and my set of experiences. That is why this is essentially a personal blog. It is a very subjective approach, where all the reflections and questions stem from my own personal experiences and unique circumstances.
There is also a professional motivation. I am hoping that with this blog I can build a readership and eventually publish my writings – pursue a journalistic path.
I have greater ambitions and so I aspire to trigger social discourse over topics that I find controversial, meaningful and relevant. I am hoping to provoke conversations and a debate arising from a bolder perspective.
I have often been inspired by a book, an article or a film. Reading about other people’s experiences, expands one’s repertoire of relatable stories. One empathises with people in situations that were otherwise alien to them.
In my experience, upon reading a story well said, I would think to myself, “so that is how this experience is like”, or “wow I am not alone in this” and on a few occasions I thought, “hmmm…so there is another way of seeing this…I never thought of it this way.” With time, I grew more tolerant and more understanding of the world, which helped me in various ways. It gave me humility and insight. I became in some ways much more tolerant and accepting of different worldviews. In other ways, I also grew more critical of those views and ways of life that are inherently intolerant. I became a cultural relativist but although I believe there are many different ways of living life honourably, I also think that there are ways that are just wrong, that do not advance wellbeing and justice. Like parenting, which I only understood after becoming a mother, there are many different ways of raising children, but some ways are not ok. I believe the same is true for cultures. We advocate respecting different ways of life, but that should not mean that all ways are ok. There are universal and measurable standards by which we can judge certain value systems…in the way they enable peace, maximize well-being and in how they yield justice. There might not be (and there isn’t) one right way….one truth…but there are ways that are wrong. There are ways that impair wellbeing, inflict harm and generate injustice. It is our responsibility to change them – but we need to learn how.
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For why is this blog all about culture, click here http://amiraberzi.com/introduction/