Pride (In the Name of the Nation or Institutions)

 Posted by  Been Reviewin'  No Responses »
Feb 072012
 
Pride (In the Name of the Nation or Institutions)

Positive psychology shows that the pride in your country correlates with well-being. “Research shows that feeling good about your country also makes you feel good about your own life,” establishes a recent Science Daily article that highlights new research showing the source of that patriotic pride makes a huge difference in the level of life satisfaction. Civic nationalism makes people happier than ethnic nationalism. Whereas ethnic nationalism is based on ancestral, racial, or religious terms (or a combination thereof), civic nationalism springs from pride in a country’s laws and institutions. A study of […] Continue reading >

How to Be Homesick Without Going Crazy: Action

 Posted by  New World, New Life  No Responses »
Nov 162011
 
How to Be Homesick Without Going Crazy: Action

Stressful situations like homesickness (see previous post) elicit two basic responses: fight or flight. You can confront your homesickness by getting angry, argumentative, or violent (if you’ve ever wanted to punch someone who doesn’t know where your country is located, you know what I’m talking about). Or you can try to get away from it with the help of drugs/alcohol or social withdrawal. I say there’s a third way: embrace your homesickness. Wherever You Go, There You Are* Each and every method below rests on a single prerequisite: accept your reality. […] Continue reading >

How to Be Homesick Without Going Crazy: Understanding

 Posted by  New World, New Life  No Responses »
Nov 142011
 
How to Be Homesick Without Going Crazy: Understanding

When as a transplant you find yourself far away from everything you know, you’re bound to get homesick from time to time. Because I don’t enjoy feeling homesick, I looked back at how I’ve not only combated but also embraced my homesickness and, I hope, turned it into something positive. To deal with something, one must understand it. This first of two posts will examine homesickness as a phenomenon. What’s homesickness all about? What a Feeling, Bein’ Homesick’s Believin’ The Oxford Dictionary defines being homesick as “experiencing a longing for one’s […] Continue reading >

Acculturating? You Have Options!

 Posted by  Kultur Clash  2 Responses »
Oct 032011
 
Acculturating? You Have Options!

It’s a special kind of discovery to learn your personal experience has an underpinning in academic theory. A paper by Jean Phinney, Gabriel Horenczyk, Karmela Liebkind, and Paul Vedder on the connection between immigration, ethnic identity, and well-being validated my personal transformation that led to American Robotnik. The Acculturation Model To be more precise, it was an overview of John Berry’s acculturation model that confirmed what I’d gone through. Berry asserts that acculturation has two dimensions: the degree of preservation of one’s heritage culture and adaptation to the host society. In […] Continue reading >