Loving and Living the best of East Meets West !
Born in Sri Lanka, a beautiful island in the Indian ocean and then moving to the United States, one of the largest and most powerful nations in the world has given me a sense of gratitude for having lived and loved the best of what both countries have to offer.
Sri Lanka is rich in culture, history and heritage while America is diverse, progressive, developed and the home to innovation and technology. Having spent most of my formative years in South Asia not only gave me a love for my family traditions, customs and culture; it also made me proud to incorporate everything I held dear to my heart when I moved to live on the west coast of America.
California (Southern California to be precise), is definitely the ‘Golden State’! From the fabulous weather which is almost all year round to the diverse ethnic groups residing along this coastal state, you can’t help but turn up the wow factor. From its large highways to the miles of mountains and coastlines makes it a haven for your senses.
While the culture was different to Sri Lanka, I found that there are more similarities than differences. The level of tolerance and desire to know about different cultures and races was apparent which made me feel right at home.
Everything you hear about life in the West is simply not true. I find it repulsive that countries and cultures can be categorized into ‘good’ and ‘bad’. It each persons personal take and one which simply has not right or wrong.
Living in the West affords me some of best memories I have of my young adult life. I believe that I was able to incorporate all the traditions and the tolerance I grew up with into my daily experiences and embraced the changes as way forward instead of a ‘different way’
Was I just lucky or is it the norm? I will say that I was definitely fortunate to have met and worked with some of the most wonderful human beings who remain my closest friends to date (almost 25 years later) and although our nationalities, religious beliefs, age demographics and personal status were varied, we had a common attributes. So what were these attributes? Tolerance, empathy, love and lack of judgement.
Social background, sexual preferences and political views did not determine who we were as people. Prior to being put into social boxes we were first simply HUMAN BEINGS. If we can embrace that, it would make life a lot simpler. Being without prejudice and having a heart that is accepting made me realize how blessed I was to have such amazing friends who are like family to me.
Moving back to Sri Lanka with my daughter and reconnecting with my school mates made me even more grateful as the childhood friendships had not dwindled and although each of us had grown so much in terms of what we were doing to having children of our own, the bond was still strong and the love and acceptance was all the same.
It is important to know who you are and embrace where you are. While you can bring some of what you learnt from the West to your home in Asia, you need to respect where you are and be in position to adapt to your surroundings. It is almost impossible to incorporate everything you want from one country to another but you need to embrace the positives and accept what you can’t and make the best of every moment.
I can’t help but be thankful for living in both Asia and America and loving every experience both continents had to offer. Would I do it again? Of course I would. The best part of life is being able to live and love exactly where you are and do so with gratitude !
