When I was 21, I started to read the Tao Te Ching and everything that could help me understand my cultural roots. Since then I’ve discovered how much I love the cultural wealth and the cultural capital of the Chinese traditions.
I truly love the Tao teaching, because it is a book of wisdom on how to learn from nature and be a servant leader – a truly caring, human being wishing to catalyze positive change in companionship with others. I use a lot of what I learned in my relationships with all of my beloved friends and colleagues from different cultures.
The thousands of years of our Chinese culture has built into the quality of steadiness, holding calm and holding spaciousness in our heart and in our mind. We’re more able to listen, to observe, and then at the key moment, speak with clarity and grace.
I was privileged to meet the women who created the Multicultural Health Broker Co-operative from six different ethnocultural groups. My job is to support them in their collective vision and efforts, so being a bit introverted, applying my facilitation skills, and definitely using what I most love in the Tao Te Ching teaching, I was able to advance the beauty of their work and help it grow.
We all bring up a bit of pride in our cultural capital, our lineage, and our ancient wisdom because this is the treasure we’re bringing to Canada. This is the very beauty that we are supposed to be practicing and joyfully sharing with each other so that eventually, one day, we won’t have this dominant/ subdominant culture, but instead, we become an equalized, truly intercultural nation.
In a pluralistic society, we need many, many of us who will be stepping up courageously, lovingly into the middle space, because there are so many people who don’t know each other. If we happen to understand two or more entities, the way they think, the way they see life, the way they communicate, we must step up. That is both our birthright and our obligation and privilege.
So be good cultural brokers. Be proud of your cultural wealth and cultural capital. Integrate it into everyday life to nourish our human spirits, and share boldly with others who can in return, share their cultural wealth. When we begin to learn from each other’s stories and cultural capital, we can be transformed and become better human beings.
在我21岁时开始接触到《道德经》以及一切帮助我了解我的文化根源的资料。我很喜欢《道德经》，因为它是一本充满智慧的书，教导我如何从自然中学习，从服务中成為领导，変成一个有爱心和希望，从与他人的关系中寻求积极变化的人。由此，我学会与來自不同文化背景的人相处，从中吸取运用学到的知识。从那时开始，我发现我十分热爱中国传统文化。源远流长的中国文化奠定了我们品格中的沉稳、冷静、和宽容。作为华裔，我们有很强的倾听和观察能力，能在关键时刻清晰优雅地提出自己的见解。
我有幸在六个不同民族的文化小组中遇到了Multicultural Health Broker Co-operative的创始人。加入了他们的团队后，我的职责是推动他们实现建立多元文化健康社区的目标。通过活用我从《道德经》中学习到的知识，有点内向的我，能帮助进一步发展他们的工作。
我们也感到自豪，因为来自不同文化的我们丰富了加拿大的文化，带来了自身的文化承传和久远的智慧。假如我们能拥护和分享各自的特有文化，终有一天，将不再把文化等级化，而是成就一个真正平等的跨文化国家。
在多元文化的社会中，大家需要勇敢地站出来互相认识和了解。当我们遇到多个文化不同的思维方式、沟通方式、以及世界观，我们更应该提升自我。这是我们与生俱来的义务和权利。
要成为优秀的文化中间人 (cultural brokers)，需要对自身的文化财产资本感到自豪，勇于与他人分享自身的文化。将之融入到日常生活中，同时感染别人，同时也分享別人的文化财富，滋养人类的精神文明。学会了解他人的故事和文化可使我们蜕变成更优秀的人。—Yvonne
REN Project 