Studying the Differences to Work Together

Who hates to read? In the past, knowledge was passed orally from generation to generation. Rituals are an important part of the educational process. Also, these rituals leverage clothing, make up, music and poetry to build a specific atmosphere and feelings: of celebration, solemnity, fear, happiness.

Furthermore, humans started to wear clothes as a survival method, probably as protection against the cold conditions, and as a way to continue traveling from Africa to Europa. Shortly after clothes started to reflect social, political, religious or economic status, or all of the above, plus personality and personal preferences. The fashion industry is old and powerful.

Recently, I was invited to a custom Halloween party. As this will be my first Halloween party, I did some research about this holiday. Soon, I discovered that there is discussion around the celebration in Costa Rica due to the different versions of its origin and culturally is thought to be from USA.

In Latin America, for example, people commemorate All Saints Day on November 2nd or Day of the Dead in Mexico.

When I started to ask about these topics, my Manager told me that cultural and religious celebrations can be very different according to the geography, historical moment and human group. Since she is a linguist, she explained that there are no good or bad cultures, nor superior or inferior languages. I agree with her and I think it is relevant to study the differences to be able to be emphatic towards one another. At the end, humans are similar in what they desire and their most basic needs: love, acceptance, food, health, water, relationships and motivation.

Humans have come a long way in the knowledge they have about the world, nature and technology. Nevertheless, they still let superficial differences come between them and hinder peace and working together. The differences also prevent humans from studying and analyzing other ways or new alternatives to achieve the same result just because they don’t know them or prefer to repeat patterns.

That is why I am excited about the Halloween party. I am thrilled about the opportunity to experience how the “ticos” have adapted this holiday to the 21st century in their land. I want to go without prejudice to analyze and to study before developing my own opinion.

Tell me, what custom looks good on me?