Your roots: why is it so important to go back and explore where you come from? It helps you to get to know yourself, accept and understand why you do things the way you do (your beliefs, behaviour and patterns). So that in the end really be yourself, because that is what we all want, isn't it?
My roots, my story
I myself am an Asian Dutch with parents who fled Vietnam in 1979. They built a new existence here in order to give themselves, me and my brother a better life. As a second generation, I have had the opportunity to learn from in a kind of dilemma lived. Born and raised in Rotterdam, with a Rotterdam mentality, but with a Vietnamese upbringing and cultural background.
The contrasts of the two cultures caused unrest and internal misunderstanding about who I am. As a result, I have not always felt at home in the Netherlands. In 2009, I travelled back to Vietnam, my cultural roots, to experience whether it felt like coming home.
And believe me, Vietnam is a fantastic and fun country, an absolute must to visit, but coming home, no, that wasn't it. I turned out to be far too 'Dutch' for that compared to the people there.
In the years that followed, I travelled all over the world, unconsciously looking to a 'homecoming feeling'. I learned a lot from each trip and took away some fantastic experiences, but the searching feeling remained unanswered.
Getting to know and accept your roots
Years later, I started my spiritual journey. Partly because of this, I found my cultural roots within myself. It no longer mattered where I was. I could learning to accept my roots and realise that I am privileged to have these two cultures in me. I could see the power in it.
I am a proud Asian Dutchman and have learned to deal with the things that come with it. Like the distance between my upbringing and the society I live in. With the struggles that sometimes come with it, privately and in my work. To overcome them to be able to break through And to realise that, in the end, we all have the same origin. That our cultural roots allow us to put a nice sauce on it, which makes us who we are.
I think there are many more people who have struggled with this or are struggling with it right now. Anyone with two or more cultural backgrounds. Hence my story, to help others in learning to discover this piece. That if we learn to accept ourselves and stand up for it, we can give colour to the world. The lack of understanding and the struggle are real, but you can also do something with it and turn it into something beautiful!
Please tell me if I You can help with this. I like to open the conversation with you and show you that you can not the only one are. Feel free to send me an email!
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