Here’s a thought I had:
In my twenties I went through something of a crisis. I could not quite put my finger on it. I do know that I spoke a lot about specific things in describing the conflict. A word I used a lot was “culture”. I spoke how I had no culture and that its absence caused one of the great conflicts of my life. I began to wonder what this was . . . what is this culture I keep speaking about? I then began an inquiry into it. The problem is that I was as if looking at something that missing. I was looking into a blank hole trying to figure out what was supposed to be in the hole by looking at how its absence affected me. I described its effects on me has having these qualities:
- Something seems absent
- There seems to be a need for whatever is absence
- Its absence causes conflict
I kept calling this absent quality “culture” and so I asked myself “what do I mean when I say culture?”
THE OVERALL MEANING
I would say that, in its simplest form, “culture is a way of being where there is a harmonious relationship between oneself, society, and the whole world”. After many years I tended to think that “culture”, as I used it, consisted of a number of different qualities:
- The way of life aspect – what I often call a “culture-as-a-way-of-life”
- The definable aspect – what I called the “tribe” or “tribalism”
- The authority aspect – what I called “The King”
Even though I used the term “culture” in one of the qualities I tended to lump all these together in the name “culture”.
A WAY OF LIFE – CULTURE-AS-A-WAY-OF-LIFE
I seem to use “culture-as-a-way-of-life” in a specific way. It seems to have qualities such as:
- It is a way of life
- It involves the idea of belonging to a people
- It involves ones ancestors
- It involves a sense of belonging
- It involves a belief in something “beyond human”
- It involves a transformation of self . . . we must change to be a part of it
- It is supportive
- It is protective
“Culture-as-a-way-of-life” is more than customs, traditions, and beliefs which many people would describe as being “culture”. It seemed to be more of a way of life, encompassing how one lives and views life. Customs, traditions, and beliefs are products of that way of life. The way of life creates those things. In this way, “culture” is not really “definable”. It is “lived”. This makes it hard to talk about and define, which is why I struggle with it so much.
DEFINABLE – TRIBALISM
About 20, or so, years later I would speak of what I call “tribalism”, or the “tribe”, which has similar traits. A “culture” puts emphasis on a way of living. A “tribe” puts emphasis on a specific people or group. In this way, “tribalism” is a “belonging to a people”. The people are the “tribe”.
“Tribalism” seems to refer to something more definable and something you can point your finger at whereas you can’t really do that with “culture”. Being more definable in orientation, the “tribe” revolves around things such as:
- A person’s looks or appearance
- Artistic representation
- The style of things
- Language
One could say that “culture” is more “spiritual” and the “tribe” is more “worldly” in orientation. In this way, they complement each other.
These definable qualities tend to be instrumental in identity and a sense of a person as well as belonging. This is because the definable qualities create an “image” that one identifies with.
AUTHORITY – “THE KING”
Reflecting on this, for about 10 years, I began to speak of something further: the need for an authority as part of a “culture” and “tribe”. That is to say, I don’t just need a “culture” or “tribe” but an authority that is associated with them. A “culture” or “tribe” without this authority is only half there and is incomplete. I spoke of this authority as “The King”. In my mind I kept seeing this image of a Medieval King on a throne above all the people. The term “The King” is really a fancy way of saying authority.
“The King” is not necessarily a person. It may or may not be embodied in a person or object, or even a belief system. It just seems “there” in some way. It is a “something”, a sense of qualities I often describe in these ways:
- It is a “center”
- It is a “pillar”
- It is a “foundation”
- It is “life giving”
- It is “supportive”
- It is “protective”
- It is “unifying”
It seemed, to me, that “The King” was totally mysterious. Even now I cannot say, for sure, what it is. It seems like a rock that holds everything together. It seemed, to me, that the “culture” or “tribe” centered upon “The King”.
“The King” is a sense of unity in one’s awareness of life under the unifying quality of something . . . “The King”. Because of this, “The King” is a unifying quality. But, at the same time, it has a protecting quality. That is to say, “The King” as if binds everything together in a harmonious way that makes one feel protected and secure.
This sense of unity can manifest itself in a number of ways. As a result, there is something like gradations:
- As a sense
- As a way of life or way of a way of doing things
- As a specific belief or philosophy, such as religion
- As a representation such as in mythology
- As a personification, such as a god
- As a person, such as a King of a Kingdom
It seems, to me, that the more the sense is portrayed through “something else”, such as a King or belief, the further it becomes removed from the base sense. As a result, the sense becomes “watered down” and can disappear altogether.
Nowadays, though, I think that “culture”, the “tribe”, and “The King” have been undermined by the modern world. As a result, there is a loss of unity and security that is prevalent nowadays.
EFFECTS OF CULTURAL ABSENCE
When a culture is absent, I speak of this as “cultural absence”. This causes certain problems. In fact, I tend to think that they are the cause for many problems nowadays. Some of these problems include:
- Alienation
- Anxiety
- Identity problems
- Cultural loneliness
- Despair
Alienation
The absence of culture can make a person feel alienated or disconnected. They can feel alienated from life, society, people, society, or even themselves. Often, it creates a sense of being lost. This alienation can cause many problems depending on the person and conditions.
Anxiety
A person can feel great anxiety without the security that culture offers. The absence of culture tends to create a more generalized type of anxiety that is not necessarily connected with anything. A person can even get to the point that they are “scared of everything”.
Identity problems
Being without culture often tends to lead to problems of one’s identity and ideas of who one is. This also entails things such as worth, meaning, and value as well as giving a person a place in the world. It can make a person feel inadequate.
Cultural loneliness
The absence of “culture” can create what I called “cultural loneliness”, and this is what I was feeling that caused the conflict I was in . . . I felt lonely for a culture or a tribe to belong to. This is a particular type of loneliness. It is both personal and social. In many ways, all it is a longing to belong to something.
It seems that cultural loneliness can appear in interesting ways such as:
- I often feel that a lot of people’s loneliness is, in actuality, cultural loneliness.
- The over-emphasis on the family seems, to me, to be a reflection of cultural loneliness.
- The over-emphasis on hobbies and doing things seem a reflection of cultural loneliness.
- The over-emphasis on following trends and fads seems a reflection of cultural loneliness.
Despair
Having no culture can cause great despair and hopelessness. This is because there is no sense of security. The longing caused by cultural loneliness can also cause a despair.
WHAT THE EFFECTS OF CULTURAL ABSENCE REVEAL ABOUT CULTURE
The effects of cultural absence say a lot about the traits of culture. Some of the things it reveals include:
- It creates a “connectivity”
- It creates belonging
- It creates a security
- It creates hope
- It creates an identity with worth and meaning
- It creates belonging
Copyright by Mike Michelsen
Mikes passing thoughts Blog 