mid-week Connect: 11/2/21 ~ Windows on the world

Greetings and Happy Midweek,

To start out this brand new month, I’d like to continue looking at common aspects of many people’s everyday lives, across the world’s kaleidoscope of cultures. A few weeks ago, we talked about doors (10/20/21 blog post - see link above). Today, speaking of a kaleidoscope, we’ll reflect on windows…

In our Global SKILLs 3D Dynamics training, we focus frequently on the HOST dimension - learning about and interacting with our Host community and culture.* When we look at and through windows cross-culturally, we can gain so much knowledge about and even experience of whatever Host culture(s) surrounds us.

I have for a long time been gathering examples of views ‘out my window’ as I traveled and lived in different places. What I have noticed is that, even when the ‘view’ isn’t initially ‘nice’ or ‘scenic’ - there’s usually something you can find ‘out there’ of interest, or beauty. Like when my window in a guest house once opened out into a very narrow courtyard surrounded by a high wall. Not much of a view, it would seem...and yet, every single day, when I gazed out that window - I gained new insights! Bougainvillea vines covered the wall, with outrageously vibrant colors and sharp thorns, which served as a deterrent to thieves (insight = ah ha, thievery is an issue in this neighborhood); birds flying overhead scoping out their next meal (insight = local customs for disposing trash helped feed the birds!), multi-colored scraps of calligraphy covered paper which had blown in from the street (such variety in and appreciation of the local script).

A veritable wealth of socio-cultural data was right out my window, if I chose to pause and linger with it. Taking the time to really look out the windows in our lives, we can become more aware of our surroundings - and ‘see’ our HOST communities and cultures much more clearly!

How about you ~ what’s one cross-cultural view out a window right where you are today which is new to you?

Share about that with a friend or note it here.

And check out the Global SKILLs LINKs below for some more ‘window watching’!

Thanks for being part of this Connect community.

Until next week,

Betsy

* Global SKILLs 3 Dimensional Dynamics Model: 1st dimension = HOME ; 2nd dimension = HOST (which we looked at today); 3rd dimension = HARBOR)

~ contact me for more information on this model and how you might use it in your current programming

Global SKILLs LINKs

~ a really fun website (started during covid’s isolation) which takes us around the world through windows: https://www.window-swap.com/blog

~ an interesting ‘take’ on India’s windows by a global construction firm: https://gosmartbricks.com/types-of-windows/

~ one brief history of windows: https://www.paarhammer.com.au/blog/history-of-windows

2021 ~ Celebrating 40 years of working in

intercultural communications and global community building

Connecting, Collaborating, Cultivating Community