On identity and diversity
Where do i belong?
(A very personal set of thoughts)
Identity is something that has always baffled me. To be classified and be put in a box, to be easily identified. What if my feeling is that I do not belong anywhere in particular, or better, having a soul that feels it belongs to many places, many cultures that apparently seem far from my own? How do I reconcile all the corners of my life and experiences to let my real identity shine ? How do I see myself and how do I want people to see me?
I had the fortune (sometimes felt as misfortune) to have been raised in a family which origins stretched around the globe. My mother , Colombian from Cali, an enthusiast salsa dancer and French teacher, my Dad, French, from a tiny village in Normandie, routier and later hotelier , Me, born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela (where my Colombian grandparents live). Me, with a German last name and (seemingly adopted Swiss/Italian) roots growing up in Pamplona , Eastern Colombia.
Christmas were always a mix between three countries; Buñuelos (Colombian food) , Aguinaldos con su furruco (Venezuelan Music) and poulet farci . My childhood was spend always in a mix , I felt it was the best of all worlds. Identity has been for me something, malleable, flexible, and somehow not definitive. What I could see was, how in spite of all our differences we were all inherently the same. We learnt, shared and enjoy three different cultures, we embraced our diversity as something precious and exciting.What felt like a downside was the difficulty to define, who am I? What was MY group, MY tribe?
When I was 17 I was adopted (at heart) by another family, another country , yet another culture. Norway . The love and connection I felt, transcended and connected with something deep inside. Norway helped me to keep exploring that question. Who am I ? where do I come from ? I hope I can say that I belong everywhere. This experience was a personal confirmation about my feelings that we humans, (this big tribe we ALL belong to) are the same. We all feel the same. Different cultures have diverse expressions for emotions but that these emotions are at its core, the same. Love, fear, pain, happiness…These are all inherent to us humans. I sometimes feel that identity is a kind of a barrier we have put between humans. We divide human value and worth depending on which side of the border we were born . Wouldn’t it be better, easier and more helpful if we can recognise that we are all the same?