What You Can Do to Pursue Balanced Cultural Identity
2024.09.13
Hello, this is Tatsuya Arakawa, a licensed mental health therapist (LMFT).
This time, I would like to continue to discuss cultural identity especially how you could maintain/strengthen your cultural identity. By doing so, it can not only help you balance your cultural identity but also boost your mental health wellbeing.
Here is the list of the things you can practically do to feel more connected to your culture:
Food
You could try to understand your cultural food and its meaning. You could simply cook the food more and try to eat out the food.
Entertainment
As the internet has made it easier for us to choose variety of entertainment, you could just simply go online, look for movies, games, dramas, music etc.… that stem from your own culture.
People
Look for people who share the culture you would like to pursue more. By simply interacting with them even if you do not talk about your culture, it could help you feel more connected to your culture.
Events
Attend events related to your culture. Enjoy anything you can enjoy. Engaging with anything related to your culture can be very helpful.
Local Club
Joining any local club related to your culture can be helpful. By doing so, you could engage with your culture more, meet new people who share the same/similar interest regarding your culture etc.…
Understanding Your Origin
Talk to your parents and/or grandparents and/or relatives about your culture. Ask them questions about their own experiences. It can help you understand the parts of your culture that you could never experience. This could help you comprehend more about your behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that stem from your culture.
Mental Work
Moreover, your mental work is as important as the list above. For instance, as you practice one or more of the lists above, you might also want to explore your own thoughts and feelings regarding your own culture. If practicing them can help you accept your own culture, that is great! (by the way, accepting does not happen right away; it is a gradual process); most likely, exploring your thoughts and feelings, such as by jotting them down, can help the process of accepting.
However, if you continue to have difficulty accepting your own culture while you practice them, then therapy can be helpful as there must be something that is blocking you and that you might not be able to remove by yourself.
Tatsuya Arakawa, LMFT 82425