Our origins determine who we are and where we belong
Our origins are often referred to as our birth places, homeland or the environment around us. But they are just our “place origins”, the world “origin” means more than a place; the connections with family, with cultures, with friends, our experience and many other nonmaterial things that affect our perceptions of this world are also parts of our origins. But what is the relationship between our origins and our identity and belonging? Are we simply a mixture of our own experiences and connections? Or it is the outside point of views determine who we are as well as where we belong? Despite the answers, the bigger question is, are we limited by our origins?
What we experienced and the connections we developed have long influences on our behavior and thoughts, and decide where we belong. We experience happiness and hurts alternatively, but most of time hurts have the greatest effect on our life. Wayne, one of the characters in the book <The Mind of a Thief> who was sexual abused when he was a child. This trauma sparked his identity crisis when he recalled this experience and drove him crazy. Wayne was therefor changed from a potential elite to a man lived in chaos. Unfortunates like this often ruin one’s life, and it take years for them to heal. But sometimes we can be saved by the connections. Wayne did not get normal until Joyce asked him for help on the Aboriginal Land Rights. This sense of responsibility not only pulled Wayne out of the chaos, but also gave him a direction of life. Wayne’s connection with the Aboriginal culture was strengthen in this way as well, as he decided to learn the almost-lost Aboriginal language and devoted his life into its culture. Wayne’s example reveals that our connections with others or a society can affect our identity, but where we belong is determined by connections as well. Patti Miller felt she belong to Wellington because she had childhood connection with it; Wayne felt belong to Aboriginal because Joyce connected his normal life with the Aboriginal Land rights. Similarly, there are also people in Japan fee they belong to the virtual world such as a particular internet community, an animation world or a game world. Some of them even marry with a computer for the virtual role in a gal game. They doing so because many of them have a stronger connection with the virtual world than with the reality. Every friendship they have, whatever it is with people or a set of digital programs, are developed in this virtual world. No wander feel belong to it instead of the reality that they have tiny connections. . The “origin” can be defined as the connections we developed in our experiences, and belonging is tied with one’s connection. In fact, our life is made of infinite connections as we interacting with the outside world, and we rely on these connections to feel where we belong.
Despite our inner qualities that shaped our experiences and connections, others’ points of views such as the cultural stereotypes the rejection can have influence on us. Cultural stereotypes are everywhere in our life: Asians are good at math; Africans are good at sports; Muslims are connected with jihadist. When these cultural stereotype are exerted on use, we tend to conform to it. African-American is a significant example. After two centuries of slavery, white Americans traditionally refused to acknowledge black Americans are capable of the intellectual achievement. That academic achievement is the whites’ prerogative has become the value of many groups which give up their education and affect many people’s behavior. According to the Paper “The empirical analysis of ‘Acting white’ ” from the University of Harvard, high-achieving blacks are often rejected by his or her peers. This is significant in the low-income minority group. Partly because the Blacks are conforming to their cultural stereotype,