I am so thankful for the diversity in the world, and this is particularly true when I learn of concepts in other cultures, cultural groundings, that do not exist in my own.  What people discover all over this world as each of us and our communities learn to move through life with grace.  What a waste to ignore the realizations of those around us.

A few I’ve found a great appreciation for:

“Hozho” to Navajo people.  A concept of the sense of balance and harmony, the push and pull between competing forces in our lives.  As presented by Hilary Tompkins, a Navajo and former solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior, “All forces in nature, human nature, economics, and politics are defined by hozho and how you find balance with tug and pull, peacemaking and war-making.”

“Hygge” to Danish people.  Wikipedia describes hygge as “a Danish and Norwegian word which can be described as a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being” and even notes that hygge is “regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture.”  There’s an excellent article from The New Yorker about hygge.

“Aloha” to Hawaiian people. Although commonly thought to be the Hawaiian word for “hello”, “aloha” as a greeting is only one of many (many!) meanings and usages of the word.  In my Hawaiian-English dictionary, the entry for “aloha” is almost half a page, and the first translation to English is “love”.  Aloha is a term of endearment or of affection, it is a greeting, a welcome, and a farewell, it is compassion and goodwill to all things, it is a way of living.

“Hakuna Matata” to Kenyans.  No, Disney did not create this phrase, just presented a frivolous expression of it.  Kenyans really do use the phrase, which represents a philosophy of perspective.  Hakuna matata isn’t about having a care-free life, it’s about understanding that not everything is within our control and coming to terms with life being what it is.  It’s like, “things could be worse” or “so it goes, what are you gonna do”.

I’m sure having not grown up in any of these cultures, without these concepts embedded in my understanding of life and the world, I don’t know the half of what they embody.  And these types of tenets hold more than can be expressed by words.  But, still if something is not to be found in your culture, being open-minded to the understandings and knowledge of another culture is a fantastic way to live in the world.  None of us individually has this all figured out, so I appreciate that I must learn from the wisdom of all.