Reality of Culture and Traditions

So growing up in Hawaii, or at least in our family we were exposed to multiple cultures and traditions as we are from a very, very mixed family. We were thought to honor all the traditions that came before and respect certain cultural aspects of “life” even though it may not necessarily confer with how we lived our day to day lives. And as a child I perhaps didn’t care or didn’t really realize what I was really being educated about.

But culture, traditions and our family heritage are now things that I hold very close to my heart, as I get older and the further I am from “home”. With the invention of the internet and the new domination of social media we are so easily exposed to how cultural appropriation can happen so fast. And while it never really bothered me before, that fact I am witness to some of it first hand or rather through direct contact with my phone, it leaves me speechless.

I would say that coming from a very mixed family I have an understanding of a lot of cultures but I have never taken one in specific and said “this is truly and wholly me”. And with us moving to Japan, and as I have stated this before in multiple blogs and our videos, I feel less Japanese then I did before I moved. While I know my family is from Japan and SOME of the traditions and cultural practices are Japanese, they have their own spin on what they are. And perhaps are a hybrid more then anything now.

With the age of social media and exposure to the masses so readily available, it has put me in a strange place about other assuming the identity of my heritage(s). Especially those who do not originate from it in any way. While in some ways I can appreciate their interests, when they assume it wholly as “theirs” it’s something that does not necessarily sit right with me.

And I think the origin from this feeling is the fact that I again do not feel whole with all or parts of my own heritage. So if I by birth right, cannot feel right, how can someone who has no connection surpass me? Or even how can they feel entitled to this?

In the dawn of a PC world, it’s hard to know what is wrong and what is right. But when it comes to the specific practices of a culture or traditions, perhaps honor them but do not claim them as your own.

Simply HONORING the practice vs. claiming or saying “this is mine” or “we are reclaiming this practice” or “we are making it better” just embrace it for what it is. I feel like this can avoid so many issues in the world, if everyone understands the difference between honoring a culture or tradition and appropriating it.

But again, I give a lot of people a pass because maybe they just didn’t know better or they just didn’t know how to go about expressing themselves correctly. So if you find yourself in this position, myself included, we should do research, reach out to those who are actively involved in this type of cultural or traditional practices and see what their idea of the thought is. Including those who are bound to these cultures or traditions can increase your success in incorporating them into day to day life or even perhaps business.

So ask questions, think, do your research and most importantly be inclusive.

Until the next one.