MY FAMILY CULTURE

My Family Culture

Josephine Diete-Spiff

Walden University

My Family Cultural Items Description

 

If confronted with unforeseen circumstances and made to leave my country with only three of my family cultural items, it will be a soul-searching event as my family cultural artifacts vary. Nevertheless, I concluded that my Holy Bible, Golf Set, and Coral Beads are most dear to me because they represent my family lifestyle, and acceptability by others is conventional.

My Holy Bible

The Bible is an integral part of my family culture and has been in use for generations. As a Christian family, it is traditional for us to wake up very early every morning, gather in the living room, and read our Bibles before going to school or work. My family believes the Bible is the word of God and is our daily guard to healthy living. The Bible is the dependable word of God that contains the history of man’s creation, relationship with God, man’s fall, Christ, who is God sons’ birth, instructions for daily living, and the hope of Christ coming again. My family, back to the fourth and fifth-generation, held this practice, and our famous maxim for every new additional family created from ours is the family that prays together, stays together. Today there are many versions and translations of the Bible, and we use different ones to deepen understanding of the subject matter. 

 

My Golf Bag Set

The second item I will carry with me is my golf set. My family is a family of golfers, and golfing is part of our family culture. Everybody plays golf at my home. Apart from some weekly competitions, most of our weekends spent are on the golf course. Golf is a game that families can play together, with other families or individuals.

It is a good exercise that deemphasis the strain of a game on the body when playing and relieves instead. For instance, if I have a headache, I will play golf, as it will alleviate the pain. A golf bag consists of a typical 12 club, but golfers are allowed 14 clubs maximum.

The golf bag clubs consist of three kinds of wood, such as a driver, a three and five wood, the woods are generally used for a long-distance hit. There are eight irons in the golf bag, numbers 3-9, and a pitching wedge. The golf irons are mostly for the fairways, the areas between the t-box and the green. The green is where the putting takes place, and golfers use the putter. I have played golf for over two decades, and I was a lady captain of my club, vice president eastern zone of my country, and president of the Nigeria ladies golf union now renamed Ladies Golfers Association of Nigeria. 

 

Royal Coral Beads

The third item I will carry with me is a pair of my royal coral beads. Coral beads are part of a royal family home. It is part of our culture and our identity to wear royal apparel at all times. The coral beads, which are a symbol of royalty, is worn on the neck, ears, hands, and sometimes the feet. There is also a crown to go with it if you are a queen. 

These royal coral beads passed down from generations is symbolic. I will carry it to retain my identity as a queen.  The coral beads come in different shapes and sides. These beads are usually in coral and red color, but due to social evolution, the beads are now in different colors, but the royal home still keeps the coral and the red tones.

 

One Item Reaction

If on my arrival, I am allowed only one of my chosen items, I will be disappointed and probably sad. Still, for my survival, I will be contented with the offer, knowing that life first and hope is continuous. To this end, I will choose my Bible as a last resort, since my faith is more important to my existence.

Insights Gained on Myself, Family Culture, Diversity, and Cultural Differences

This exercise on my family culture exposed me to the things I hold dear in life. Choosing only three of my family cultures, among other cultural outputs in my life, made me discover the critical elements that I took for granted as routine. Little wonder (Kraft, 1999) did see culture as a person’s way of life, life strategy, handling of the communal, genetic, and physical environment. Mentioning culture to include learnt world insight, notions, and relics (substantial culture). The exercise of family cultural choice also showed differences in opinions, choices, and culture among people. As I learnt more about my family culture, our customs through generations came with nostalgia.

Insights gained on diversity was knowing I had a choice cultural item, which might be different from other persons cultural items. Accordingly, Harris (2008) specifies diversity as objectively and interpretively, implying the existence of diverse kinds of families and depiction of families being varied or contrary in the description. Over the years, my family has accumulated artifacts that are unbiased and explanatory, and most families do have the same.  Research showed the cultural differences between people, places, and events. What I hold dear, might not be what others hold dear. Like the sayings goes, different strokes for different folks.

Conclusion

Family culture as a way of life indicates a constant repetition of an action by the family that has become a habit. In life, several activities have become routines classified as custom. These routines are then passed from one generation to another and used to describe the family.  For instance, my family is referred to as a family of golfers. Invariably, an educator’s knowledge of a child in the class with a classified notion like ours will relate better knowing the child’s family culture.

References

Harris, S. R. (2008). What is family diversity? Objective and interpretive approaches. Journal of Family Issues, 29(11), 1407–1417.

Kraft, C. H. (1999). Culture, worldview and contextualization. Perspectives on the world Christian movement, 3, 384-391. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/07ca/9e022fdd77f44d5d34dd9271aefc986e81f4.pdf