Creative Practice Week 5 – The World is One

Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, as in the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural decay. The phrase cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each others' differences. The phrase "cultural diversity" is also sometimes used to mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. The culturally destructive action of globalization is often said to have a negative effect on the world's cultural diversity (“Cultural diversity,” 2015).

Last year I had the great pleasure of teaching a home school art class to children whose ages ranged from 5 to 10. We created a painting of our hands holding flowers resembling Picasso's "La Petite Fleur", everyone repeated "La Petite Fleur" several times, obviously enjoying the sound of a foreign language. So I took advantage of a teachable moment and asked who knew how to say flowers in another language besides English and French. One student shouted in Spanish, "Flor". I said it in German, "Blute". That is as far as we got, but everyone had a great laugh over the German word and wondered why it was so different from the English, French and Spanish sound.

They also discovered that they really needed help to draw their other hand. You see the assignment required them to trace around their own hands holding the flowers to make it personal to them. There was much conversation, compliments and thank yous as they assisted one another. If only the adults of the world could see the real blessing in lending your hand to help another in need of assistance and asking nothing in return. There was no grumbling, only happiness to be of service to their neighbor.

What further impressed me about these precocious children is the discussion they had about their skin color and nationalities. One had one Caucasian parent and one African American parent. Another was of Peruvian heritage. One had one Caucasian parent and one Filipino parent. There was a set of African American brothers and the remainder of the class was Caucasian but all gave full histories of their family's genealogies. It was a great opportunity to discuss our differences as well as realize how much alike we are no matter where we came from, or the color of our skin or the language we spoke. It was probably the best class day with them throughout the school year. Their work was wonderful and showed a great variety of flowers and style. So for this week's creative practice, I am creating my own "La Petite Fleur" adding an image of the world as my background. For you see, without our unique differences our world would be a monoculture – an incredibly boring place to live.

I have been fortunate to travel and meet people from all over the world making my human connection experience very rich. It is so much fun to learn about their countries and what is customary in their cultures. My husband and I always ask the crew members on our cruises where they are from and if they have families. We have made many friends who remember us when we come back, simply because we have asked their names and showed an interest in who they are. One time I asked our cruise ship room attendant where he was from and did he have family and much to my delight and surprise, he came back later with postcards for Goa, India and lovely photos of his family. I felt that I had been honored with a very special gift.

Being present, being genuinely interested, learning about another are qualities that an Arts in Medicine practitioner must possess. The distance between cultures and countries has become very small now that we can travel so easily as well as having the Internet to communicate worldwide. In my own neighborhood there are Hispanics from Mexico, Cuba, and South and Latin America. There are Middle Easterners, Ukrainians, African Americans and Caucasians. There is an assisted living home for the mentally ill a couple of blocks away. There are homeless at the bus stop down the street and across the bridge. The great thing is that we all get along, just as the many cruise ship crew with their various nationalities and cultures.

But cultural diversity is more than where we come from or the color of our skin. Something many of us also fail to consider as culturally diverse are those who are living with cognitive, mental or physical disability; those from different generations; and those with different gender/sexual preferences. Just last week, I had to console a 24-year old family member and her girlfriend, who had endured verbal abuse at our local Starbucks from an elderly man screaming that they were not normal. How hurtful for them and how culturally incompetent was the old man? The elderly have different opinions on many things; some are more enlightened than others. My neighbor has Multiple Sclerosis. All she wants is for people to talk to her about what she is interested in, what she is reading or cooking for dinner, not about her disease. I met a nurse when having my mammogram who had been horribly disfigured as a child from a fire; she said it had been very hard growing up and that it is still difficult because people are afraid or turned off by her scars. Yesterday I was in the checkout line at Lowe’s and felt someone standing very close to me and turned to see a mentally challenged middle-aged man grinning from ear to ear. I smiled then he ran over to his mother and whispered in her ear. My smile must have surprised him (maybe I frightened him?)

Characteristics of diversity are (but not limited to): age; cognitive style; culture; disability (mental, learning, physical); economic background; education; ethnicity; gender identity; geographic background; language(s) spoken; marital/partnered status; physical appearance; political affiliation; race; religious beliefs; sexual orientation or veteran's status (“What is cultural Diversity - Fort Hays State University,” n.d.).

Just as beautiful flowers come in many shapes, designs and colors, so do we humans. Regardless of any of our differences or similarities, we must always remember to put ourselves in their shoes, ask about their preferences and be open to humbling ourselves to learn how to treat, respect and care for another human being.

Why, because we all want the same thing – to be loved, to be safe, to have enough and to be well.

Cultural diversity. (2015, February 25). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cultural_diversity&oldid=648775333

What is cultural Diversity - Fort Hays State University. (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2015, from https://www.fhsu.edu/diversity-affairs/what-is-diversity/