Giving context to our conversations on PulseWire

As I have been getting acquainted with PulseWire these last few months I think it is amazing and beautiful the connections that exist across cultures and continents. I love the genuine care and attention that I see being paid to one another’s thoughts and experiences. One thing this has made me think about is how the way people experience and tell their story is shaped by the way they understand the world. I am curious about what shapes the way different people see who they are and what they know. Sometimes I read somebody’s post and wonder if my opinion or thoughts on what they are saying could ever possibly be relevant or understood when our backgrounds are so different. This question has been put to rest on this site as I see over and over the love and friendship that people give one another. However, could our conversation go deeper and become stronger if we had a better glimpse into each other's lives? I wonder what are those things that affect the way we see the world. What are the stories of our family and culture that become the stories of our lives? I’m sure more of them are unknown than known even to us ourselves. Whether its as small as telling you that my grandpa used to wiggle his ears unconsciously when he was pulling my leg, or as big as the effect the Protestant Revolution had on society, these things shape the way we see the world. A silly example of what I’m talking about: I did not see any of the original Star Wars movies until just before the first new movie came out. I remember my friends decided we needed to have a Star Wars marathon before we went to see the new movie. All of a sudden I went from having seen none of the Star Wars movies to having seen them all in a matter of 24 hours. I didn’t think anything of this until later as I began to notice all these Star Wars references that existed around me: phrases I knew or even used, things I understood through context but never realized where they came from. The story of Star Wars had been ingrained into the culture so much that I was familiar with it without even understanding the story itself. I wonder what are the stories of our culture that shape our understanding? What are the traditions that shape our reality? I would like to put this question out to PulseWire through my journal, but I also think it would be amazing to start a “cultural context” group here on PulseWire. I believe that sharing family or cultural traditions or stories will give us all context and more understanding in communicating with one another. Anybody interested?

My heart and mind are open to deeper love and compassion through understanding

Lindsay