One of the most important elements of a person’s life is their cultural identity. It’s hard to deny the imprint our cultural ties have on how we see the world, how we interact with the people of this world, and how we perceive ourselves within it. Whether you’re from an indigenous tribe in Latin America, a cosmopolitan city in Europe or one of the vast nations on the continent of Africa; your cultural identity will have its part to play in your evolution as a global citizen.

What is a cultural identity?

Your cultural identity represents every experience you’ve had from birth that has influenced who you are today and who you will be in the future. From your race, language, belief system, and several other facets come the building blocks of your cultural identity as a whole. We all have one no matter where we come from.

Why do we often forget the importance of our cultural identity?

As a society, we sometimes aren’t able to celebrate our cultural identity to its fullest extent. Whether in a line at the grocery store or the place we often find the most challenging, the workplace, we are all too often forced to water down who we are in order to better assimilate or not make ourselves stand out. Thankfully, diversity, inclusion, and equity seem to be having a renaissance in the workplace. More and more organizations are creating entire divisions aimed at tackling this issue which is encouraging, but, as with all motions towards change, more can be done.

How can we better highlight our cultural identity?

I will be the first to say that this is a personal choice. Your culture is your culture and there is no one that can tell you how you should share this with the world. As a society, we can do better at accepting other individuals cultural identities first. If we start celebrating each other’s uniqueness and the elements about our fellow global citizens that make them special, this may pave the way towards everyone feeling they can be their whole self naturally.

Why does your cultural identity matter? 

The Earth is a puzzle and we are the individual pieces that create one whole picture. Each fragmented piece of the puzzle has a different shape, color, and most importantly, purpose. Without one piece the picture can never be called complete. If we continue to see each piece as the same, we’ll continue to live in a fragmented world that can never be made whole. A world so unique that if we were to lose one piece, we would no longer hold the most beautiful elements that make us complete.

Key Takeaways:

1. You are the sum of all your parts.
2. Your cultural identity influences your world-view in every way imaginable.
3. We need each other to be our most unique self in order for the world to be complete.

 

Thanks to https Dazzle Jam for the beautiful cover art via Pexels.