Talking Point

Last Sunday morning's Dialogue2010 discussion left me floating for the day. Apart from the wonder of talking across continents and timezones to nine other women, I felt very much like I'd talked to some of my oldest friends. The fact that I've spent a few hours in the company of some of them, a few months of twittering with others and some were completely new acquaintances really did not present any barrier to our discussion which was both personal and broad-reaching.

We all have two things in common, an artistic/creative drive and links to other cultures. I found myself asking through the day were we sharing our hybrid lives because of our creativity or because of our experience of being expats. The two seemed interlinked and yet separate, like a binary star about which we orbit.

A few highlights:

Judith's insistence that a sense of humour is needed to live this hybrid life and her comparison of the Netherlands as chihuahua to the US's great dane

Elmira's analogy of a hybrid life being like a high definition television compared to black and white and saying that she was forced into this hybrid life by her parents choices

Rose's knowing laugh at being asked by Judith whether her core took a while to catch up after she moved to Turkey, her leaving perfectionism and impatience behind

Sezin declaring herself to be not just living a hybrid life but to being a hybrid, and finally after years living in the same house with all her journals

Karen's hints that her patriotism has clashed with her expatriatism and releasing herself from the responsibility and obligation that come with being a daughter

Catherine's discussion of leaving behind materialism and stuff to live more fully

Jocelyn on being an outsider all her life and how one serendipitous decision can shape a whole life

Anastasia on how being an expat can involve leaving behind independence and extroversion

Tara and how her values have been strengthened by her expat life, of how she is both and neither

There were so many other wonderful moments in this discussion that I will come back to explore in future posts as they seep through my mind. The podcast and transcript will be available at some point so you'll all be able to hear what these great ladies had to say.

Mapping My Worldview

Inspired by Rose Deniz' wonderful post about finding her path I've made a map of my own. This isn't a path though, just two snapshots placed side-by-side to show how my worldview has changed. The left focuses on my parent's house, and hence my childhood and schoolyears; the right is where I am now. After that I think you can work it out for yourselves. It shows that I may be physically grounded while being a global connector in other ways, a counterpoint to Anastasia's post about the subject.

The reason I'm thinking about this is that I'm due to take part in the inaugural Dialogue2010, a discussion with nine other women scattered around the globe about mapping and living a hybrid life. Tune into the podcast once it's live and see what we all have to say!