Throughout this series of articles, we have touched on six different dimensions of wellness: physical, spiritual, emotional, environmental, social and occupational. There are two other dimensions which are covered in the newsletter weekly in other sections: intellectual and financial wellness.
In this article, we focus on a specific dimension of social wellness: cultural awareness. A culturally-well person knows their background and the richness of their cultural background. They embrace diversity and value positive relationships irrespective of backgrounds, lifestyles, genders, ethnicities, abilities and age. This falls within the social wellbeing framework of social actualisation, social integration and social coherence.
Culture and cultural differences (at the basic level) are often explained by focussing on cultural dress, food, language, music, literature, music and mostly the visible aspects of culture. It is the non-visible aspects of culture, however, that cause misunderstanding and misconceptions. Aspects like ethics, values, beliefs, notions of modesty, competition vs cooperation, communication style and so forth. These issues confuse both personal and professional life and friction if one party wishes the next to ‘adjust’ to ‘their’ way of doing things.
Technically, culture refers to the patterns of ideas and behaviours shared by a particular people or society. It is an ever-changing and dynamic context as communities and individuals are continuously growing. Social wellness requires you to make connections with people within your community and the world. The world, however, is not as fragmented and segmented anymore (and thank goodness for that) which means that we are often making connections with people from different cultures. A diverse group of people certainly makes for interesting conversations and stories but often in the workplace these differences cause conflict and unnecessary misunderstanding. However, in the workplace policies and procedures are in place that support professional behaviour and conduct which will uphold the values of the organisation.
What about in our personal lives? How do we embrace coherence and cultural wellness? Are there things that we can do to ensure that we truly practice social wellbeing?
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Understand and respect your own heritage
One of the first things we can do to expand our social well-being is to understand and explore our own heritage. Reflect on where you come from – ask questions about your heritage, do a genealogical chart on the internet even. But take a close look at who you are and what moulded your behaviour.
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Explore your personal unconscious biases
Furthermore, you need to understand where your prejudice, ignorance and stereotypes originate. Find why you think and react in a specific way, how you react to others and what drives that behaviour. By understanding your own heritage you might just feel the need to encounter other cultures to whom you might be related or might have had an impact on your heritage.
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Understand and respect diversity
Research and investigate other cultural views especially if they are different from yours. Study the impact different cultures have on one another and inspect how these influence the thoughts and behaviours of others. Understand why some issues are difficult to tolerate for one person and why it is so. Explain your position and respect the differences in a relationship.
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Engage in other cultures as much as you can
Celebrate the differences between cultures and engage in cultural activities that are different from yours (if permitted of course). Learn from one another, see the beauty in traditions and allow yourself to become a citizen of the world. Look at the people around you to truly immerse yourself in the similarities and the differences.
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Communication is key
Ask questions for clarity. Make sure that you stay respectful in the way you ask questions so that the person you are talking to understands that you are curious and wish to learn something new.
Listen first before you talk. Often we are conversing with one another in a second language (you and the other person) and many misconceptions can happen because both of you are translating and listening in a language that is not your first language. This could cause such confusion – one wrong word (unintentionally) and the message is completely misunderstood. Thus, listen first before you take any action. Also, be mindful of your words.
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Promote equity values
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, or how does that saying go? Encourage equality in every aspect of your life. If your girl child wishes to do martial arts like her brother – let her, it’s a very valuable life skill. Let what you do for one colleague be the same as what you do for another no matter their station.
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Establish a sense of belonging
Create an environment of inclusion. Create comfort in your presence. When you are uncertain about what someone said or what they meant with what they said, ask them directly so that you understand where they are coming from. Through this, the person will feel safe being around you and in your environment. Find common ground, we are all human, aren’t we?
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Build a community of care and understanding
Be at the forefront of inclusivity and social wellness by creating a community of care. Put luncheons together where you invite people to join who are different from you. Share experiences online and talk to people about them. Establish a community where ideas/challenges/misconceptions/myths and miracles can be shared in a caring environment.
As a collective, we are in a unique position to activate change simply because we are used to embracing different cultures daily. We are in a position to lead the way because we have made the mistakes and have allowed ourselves to learn from them.
Social wellness through inclusivity is not just an individual mandate – it is global. Let us embrace our responsibility.
