Embracing a Global Community - Jane's Mindful Musings

  Jane Witherspoon is a Canadian expat adventurer, yoga instructor and passionate rambler who recently relocated from Panama to Denia, Spain. 

Sole Sister Ramblers is a global online community and as such how do we embrace, accept and recognize the beauty in our differences?

This world that we live in is more interconnected than ever. With the rise of a global community wherein many people are choosing to relocate from their place of birth, our daily interactions are becoming more diverse.

As a child, I grew up in a city located in the prairies of Western Canada. We arrived as immigrants from the United Kingdom and my community, and the city as a whole, was populated mostly by other Caucasian immigrants from Eastern Europe.

The most exotic cultural differences I encountered was with my friends who were Italian. Their parents spoke Italian and when I would visit their homes, I was always intrigued by how their customs were so different from our own. 

As we fast forward to today’s world, we are faced with a rising tide of prejudice, racism and bias towards others. I like to think of myself as inclusive and open to all people, but we all have biases we are not aware of that surprise us when they appear in our speech and actions towards others. 

Where does this come from, a learned behavior from our childhood, a fear of what is unfamiliar or unknown? In order to better understand the idea of discrimination, I have been reading Deep Diversity, Overcoming Us vs. Them by Shakil Choudhury. In this book, Choudhury helps readers identify their own biases and offers practical ways to break the prejudice habits we have all learned in order to tackle systemic discrimination. It is an excellent resource for understanding diversity and learning how to speak about it with others.

Having traveled to several countries and being a resident in Panama and Spain over the last fifteen years has created a deeper awareness within of the opportunities available to broaden my understanding of different cultural norms. It has allowed me to expand my narrow perceptions and preconceived stereotypes. 

So how do we move forward to embracing a global community in a mindful way? These are a few pertinent ideas presented by Choudhury that resonated with me.

• In order to move forward to a more nurturing mentality we must disrupt the Us vs. Them default that we carry. This involves learning and unlearning about ourselves and others. 

• When we choose to understand diversity it allows us to broaden our understanding and acceptance.

• Becoming more aware in making people feel they matter and belong.

• Giving yourself permission to have conversations about bias, prejudice and discrimination.

• Most importantly, it requires that we have open hearts and open minds.

And so my Sole Sisters, as you ramble out into your week, open your hearts and minds to the beauty of the diversity that we all have to offer in this global community.