Third culture individuals are also known as adult third culture kids. It refers to people who were raised in a culture other than that of their parents' or nationality. The first culture refers to the parents' culture, the second is that of the country of residence and the third pertains the culture created by the individuals who carry with them a mix of cultural ties. It's in the third culture where I feel most at home, at ease. It's a beautiful culture. It's fluid, it's open, it's always morphing, no one owns it and it feels free. Yet somehow when third culture individuals meet, we recognize each other almost immediately, perhaps sensing each others' enthusiasm for the unknown. We carry with us an awareness that where we live is one of many places in the world which we call home and that there is always a "moving on" date. A date that invokes a different navigation, maybe taking less for granted; we're constantly missing friends and family.
We’re good at moving forward but understand that like all cultures, ours has its challenges. Like chameleons we recreate ourselves to fit our surroundings. A skill we learnt during our development years so we're really good at it! Adaptability becomes a dominant color. Every so often we need to consciously tone down adaptability and piece the many versions of us together, find the common threads. I found this to be especially true when it came to looking for meaningful purpose.
Belonging everywhere whilst belonging nowhere can feel lonely and confusing. Often our families, parents and children live in different parts of the world. What happens when we finally have to choose a place to settle down? Even the word 'settle' can be quite unsettling. For me, home is people and my best language is a mix of English, Portuguese and Spanish. It's a lifestyle with its own beautiful rhythm. One I'm very familiar with.
My meaningful purpose - coaching. I love connecting and partnering with people to navigate different segments of their journeys. Emotional agility is one of the benefits coaching brings, the awareness to what is within our control and can be worked on versus what is not but also requires a shift in mindset. Something we're quite familiar with. We choose our destinations, look for schools and housing but for the most part we have no idea what's waiting for us at the other end. We trust our curiosity and our ability to make it work.
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