Blog
New Office, Old Me
For so many of us growing up, Summer was the time of change – international moves aligned with school years and this transition season was marked by both endings and beginnings. It’s not unusual for a lot of Third Culture Kids to feel antsy this time of year, to feel the familiar itchy feet or ticking of that internal clock (whichever metaphor suits you best!)
Treasure Bridges: connecting Past and Present
There is something about this time of year that encourages a shedding of past experiences. We are told to leave the past behind us and to look forward towards a new and (hopefully) better future. I’m not disputing the validity of this approach, but I would temper it with a little moderation.
Too many backward glances causes us to stumble. How many times have we watched children especially collide with lamposts because they were looking behind them whilst walking (or even running!) forwards? Indeed, for fear of falling, some of us have learnt that we can keep safe by standing still whilst we cast our backward glances. In this case, we are safe but we are also static. And so, in a bid to encourage growth and movement, we cast our eyes ahead of us, resisting the pull of what lies behind.
December… the time of fresh starts.
With December comes a stripping away, a rawness, a transparency that lays bare the world around us. Can we, do we, mirror this? Can we take up the silence it offers and enter it bravely? Silence and reflection can be terrifyingly stark, and yet so often they are where the quiet opportunities for change begin.
A Return to Settledness
What happens when plans change? Do you sigh with relief, feeling an expanse of unexpected time and space opening up before you? Do you feel yourself tensing, a creeping awareness that you’ve just lost your projected future? How do you return to the life that existed before your plans? How do you return to what was?
Is Being Enough, Enough?
On the brink of change, of conflict, of transition, or of loss? Perhaps you are less on the brink, and more caught up in the irresistable flow of life's medley of challenges - and you feeling thrust into a future you aren't quite ready for? You aren't ready to let go?...
Moving… again. It’s actually a Big Deal.
So, it’s just occurred to me that I’m going through transition. I know, doh. Due to my impending nuptials, I’m planning on moving house in the next three months. I suppose it snuck up on me. I mean, I’ve done house moves. I’ve moved between countries, between cultures, as a student, as a newly wedded wife, as a new mum, as a divorcee. They’ve been routine, life-changing, hard work, and significant life events. So how did this one sneak up on me?
A Whole Life
Isn’t that an enticing phrase? A life that is whole, complete, wholesome, meaningful, seen in its entirety? There are many associations we can make with those three little words. The first time they came to my notice, it was as the title of a book being reviewed on BBC’s Radio Four.
Being a Cultural Patchwork
I grew up amongst some dedicated patchwork quilters. The work was too fiddly to appeal to me; I liked craftwork that gave more instant gratification. The quilters demonstrated seemingly infinite patience, and an ability to match varying patterns and colours in their beautiful creations. Those of us who grew up amongst transition and multiple cultural environments have the ultimate cultural patchwork personalities. Except that instead of the quilters’ carefully selected squares of complimentary colours and shapes, each of our cultural worlds contribute their own distinct dimension to that which is ‘Us’, and these sometimes clash with each other! But, like any creative piece, as unexpected and tension-filled as it might be, its beauty is increased with understanding.
Star Trek Discovery: A Third Culture Kid Tale?
So while I’ve dipped in and out of the world of Star Trek over the years, I’d never have been described by my nearest and dearest as a ‘Trekkie’. And yet I have Trash Jaeger (@spacetimeboss) on Twitter to thank for my special interest in the new series, Star Trek: Discovery. He tweeted: You better BELIEVE I’m hyped about a Star Trek that focuses on a PTSD-suffering Third-Culture Kid and I was hooked!
Trauma and the Theatre
“I’m so excited; I’m going to the theatre tonight and I’ve not been in ages!”
“Sounds great – what are you going to see?”
“This thing on trauma. It’s billed as both informative and funny.”
“…”
Trauma. Private pain laid out on the stage? Humorous? A good night out?