Embracing The Connections of SubCultures

As I have traveled from the East to the Southwest and back, I have met such a diverse group of subcultures of people from the conservatives to the liberals, and the in between! Some people freely state their opinions about food and drink, politics, religion, and nature. Some keep their feelings inside their brains and hearts!

Because I am an observer of people, I am always interested in the different ideas and attitudes I see, and often feel…even with the unspoken. I am blessed to be intuitive and perceptive …which affords me to pick up various aspects of people whose paths cross mine. I am equally blessed to be open to all cultures and ideas, always willing to learn and seize opportunities for connections.

I love the subcultures within cultures from the big cities to the rural towns to the desolate deserts to the backwoods. Though every place and all people, dependent upon age, gender, belief systems, and ethnicity has a separate makeup, one thing is a constant…..When a person (like I am) smiles at another person and says “How is your day going?” and says it with sincerity, the other person feels comfortable and free to share aspects of their lives. It is my honor to be able to travel and meet all types of people.

Just yesterday I was having lunch in Oklahoma City and I had an engaging conversation with a man who was lunching with his 91 year old Dad. An elderly woman joined them and as they spoke freely in front of me, I learned the woman had just lost her partner of many years, and was thinking she would like to travel but was afraid to venture out alone in the world. I jumped onto the opportunity to share with her that adventure can begin at any age, at any time. I could see a light of hope within this woman, and it made my heart smile. The group of them sat at a table and I sat at mine, enjoying my lunch. Before I left I walked over to their table and told them each it was my pleasure to meet them. The man with his Dad thanked me and said: “We are proud of you!”. I felt he was really an angel in disguise delivering this message to me for my own confirmation and validation that traveling alone has its benefits and gifts.

When we each release our biases and judgments about other cultures and subcultures we will find a connection and a common bond between people. When we are afraid of those different from us, we will stay encased in what we think is our safe shell of a life. However, living that way will only keep us disconnected from meeting others who just might be able to teach us a little about ourselves!