Greetings and Happy Midweek!
I’m in central Pennsylvania this week and enjoying familiar sites including the historic covered bridges which criss-cross this region, all framed as they are right now in brilliant autumn colors. So, today, I thought we’d explore the topic of ‘covered bridges across cultures’. This fits into our Collaborations component of Global SKILLs’ PROACTive Framework, because from one side of any bridge to the other, no matter what lies or runs or flows underneath, a collaborative crossing is the best way to go! [*]
The area where I am staying is famous for this unique kind of wooden bridge called a ‘covered bridge’. You can read about them in the LINKs below, but I just wanted to note here that I love going over these because they almost always span lovely waterways, meandering through farm fields or tumbling down deep glens. One collaborative effort involved though, at least for modern traffic, is that they are only one lane - so when vehicles from both directions want to cross, deciding who gets to go first and who waits is essential!
As my car wheels bump across the wooden planks, I sense echoes of community collaborations which through the years have also crossed the bridge - farmers going to market, newlyweds proudly driving their buggy to visit friends, and a herd of cows being driven from one field to another. I also feel cozy under the peaked roof, sheltered from the day’s weather and worries, thinking of the relief crossers in days gone by must have felt, in their open carriages or as they just walked along.
Covered bridges can guide us into some helpful cultural insights even as they delight us with their historical presence and memories. Working together within communities where several cultures meet, strategically crossing bridges of communication and other types of ‘gaps’ always results in benefits for all involved. And being sheltered together, like in the shade of a covered bridge, while making efforts to navigate across cultural confusion and arrive at agreements or at least understandings - it makes a difference!
How about you ~ what’s one cultural covered bridge in your life experience that you can reflect on for insights?
Share about that with a friend or note it here.
And check out the Global SKILLs LINKs below for more on bridges which cover several kinds of cultural spans.
Thanks for being part of this Connect community.
Until next week,
Betsy
Global SKILLs LINKs
~ the covered bridges of central PA: http://pacoveredbridges.com/historydesign
~ an Arabic example of crossing cultural bridges: https://www.cultural-bridges.co.uk/
~ and covered bridges around the world: https://structurae.net/en/structures/bridges/covered-bridges
Notes
Related Connect posts on the topic of Bridges: 7/8/20 - LINKs; 3/3/21 - Penpals; 1/26/22 - Art-full; 10/11/23 - rivers (you can find these by using the blog link above)
[*] Through my business Global SKILLs and several partner subsidiaries I offer unique cross-cultural consulting and training including:
3 Dimensional Dynamics Model:
1st dimension = HOME ; 2nd dimension = HOST ; 3rd dimension = HARBOR)
PROACTive Framework:
PRO = PROfile, PROcess, PROgram
ACT = Applications, Collaborations (which we explored this week) and Transformations
~ contact me for more information on this model and these strategies and how you might use them in your current programming: betsy.barbour@gmail.com
2023 ~ Celebrating 40+ years of working in
intercultural communications and global community building
“It takes a community to build a community”
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Please do not reproduce or share without my permission (betsy.barbour@gmail.com)