Roots

We all are born into a cultural psyche. Our own psyche is shaped by our roots–our families and friends, the schools we went to, our country of origin–our cultural norms shape us. We naturally imbibe society's everyday messages, subtle or overt.

As I think of the possibility of living in different cities or even countries, I know intuitively I will be taking on the psyche of the place–the people, the history, the ethos. I remember coming back from a year in London in my twenties to Washington D.C. and hearing CCR play on the car ratio, and I immediately picked up on the folk roots embedded in America's DNA as such a stark contrast to England’s psyche. I pictured people around a campfire, a guitar, singing, pioneering. If I were black, I might think of that, but also the horrors of slavery and oppression. If I were Native American, I may think about the loss of my people and way of life.

When we haven’t left our culture, sometimes we can’t see it fully for what it is, and even if we do, there are still so many layers to peel back, back into the deep unconscious of the country. In America, that includes genocide, slavery, rebellion, independence, freedom, and ultimately global dominance.

Of course, every country has these shadowy themes, often obscured by patriotic narratives; and both can exist at the same time and both be true, just like in our individual psyches. Do we have the will and courage to look honestly at our cultural psyches? Look at the good, the bad and the ugly? Can we hold space for this? And can we understand what we have internalized, good or bad?

Soul-prompt: How have I internalized my culture’s psyche, and what do I want to accept and what do we want to purge? What is true for me, contrary to my culture?