Greetings and Happy Midweek!
Since the major rail strike (see my last Connect *) was averted (for now…), it looks like my October cross-country train trip will actually really happen. Yeah! To celebrate, I thought we’d continue in a travel mode - and explore crossing borders this week, looking specifically at similarities and differences on either side of any given border. I would fit this into the 3rd, Harbor, dimension of Global SKILLs 3D Dynamics training since the Harbor is a space where people of different cultures, and from different places, come together.**
Border crossings are something we all have experienced. The routine can be very simple, like walking or driving or even flying across a border which isn’t necessarily clearly marked. Or, it can take hours or days to cross a border. We used to line up with dozens of trucks and cars to wait our turn for the border crossings (there were 4 of them!!) when we went from the village to the city in southern Senegal.
I heard yesterday about a very unique border crossing being done by a sculptor, Karla Garcia, whose current art exhibit physically crosses the US-Mexico border. Karla uses clay as her medium and, as she says, the clay is the same on either side of the border. She uses the clay, combining it with other artistic ‘touches’ (like her own fingerprints) and explorations into cultural identity, to illustrate human connections that exist as well - or could.
Karla’s goal is to guide people on either side of that border, and anyone who visits her exhibition, to appreciate similarities and seek to come together there, or where-ever they live, with others for mutual understanding, support, strength, and growth. This coming together and sharing is one essence of the Harbor dimension, and it is a key, I believe, to all effective, sustainable cross-cultural work.
How about you ~ what’s one border in your life you’d like to explore more closely - seeing what’s on each side?
Share about that with a friend or note it here.
And check out the Global SKILLs LINKs below for some other border musings…
Thanks for being part of this Connect community.
Until next week,
Betsy
Global SKILLs LINKs
This is the link for the story of Karla Garcia’s artwork:
Try these out virtually (or in person someday?), asking yourself what kind of cross-cultural insights these border crossing hold for you:
Notes:
* to revisit past Connects, you can check your email (they usually come out on Wednesdays) or you can see all previous Connects using this blog link: https://www.globalskillspartners.com/blog-1
** 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 (which we explored this week)
~ contact me for more information on this model and these strategies and how you might use them in your current programming
2022 ~ Celebrating 40+ years of working in
intercultural communications and global community building
“It takes a community to build a community”
Please Note: this is copyrighted content.
Please do not reproduce or share without my permission (betsy.barbour@gmail.com)