Family Culture

Every family has a culture. Sometimes it is influenced by the culture of their nation. Other times it is influenced by their religious culture. A culture simply is the symbols, beliefs, language, values, and artifacts of a people. It's what unites a group of individuals who share these symbols, beliefs, language, values, and artifacts. What is unique about a family culture is that it's different for every generation, and it's a compilation of many different "cultures". Each new couple starting their family brings two different family cultures together. As my husband and I are learning, different parts of these two cultures work well together while others do not. We have to pick and choose which symbols, beliefs, language, values, and artifacts we are going to keep in our family culture. We also have to decide what new symbols, beliefs, language, values, and artifacts we are going to create for our new family. Even after you are married your family dynamic and culture continues to change. We have to continually decide what culture we want to create and perpetuate in our family. I challenge you to think about your family culture. What traditions do you continue from your family or your spouses family? What symbols, beliefs, language, values, and artifacts are new to your family? Finally think about what you can do to perpetuate the parts of your family culture that are good and healthy for your family. Then I challenge you to make a plan for how you can continue those parts of your family culture, and how you can better your family culture.