Groups Create Culture

Every group of people that interacts for a period of time eventually creates its own unique culture

Google defines culture as "The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively."

In Indonesia, a person points with their thumb as it’s considered very rude to point with a forefinger.

In Thailand it’s considered very rude to cross your legs in public.

In Brazil, New Year’s Day is celebrated with a bowl of lentil soup as the lentil is considered a symbol of wealth.

We tend to think of culture as something associated with countries, continents, and regions. It is often thought to be very broad and encompassing of many things. I like to think of culture however, as something much more specific than that. Culture is the set of values, shared experiences, and general mood of a group of people. Sound complicated? Take this example:


Think about where you work, where you go to class, how about your group of friends? Every group of people that interacts for a period of time creates its own culture. The way people within a group talk to one another, the way they behave, what is acceptable, what is not, and the general mood they create is all a part of the overall culture of that group. Every person in a group brings a set of their own beliefs and experiences to the overall process and contributes to molding and defining what that group's culture will eventually become. This is true even if all members of the group are from the same background. For example, my four sisters and I have always been together and went through some overall similar experiences, yet we are all very different than one another. The way we behave at home is different than the way we behave at work or in school because the people around us in each of these places create different cultures that reflects differently on our experiences and bring out certain aspects of our personality.

The critical talent to adapt to any culture lies in our ability to reach into ourselves to find as many common things as possible with one another in any setting. We can always find at least one thing that connects us to the people around us. At the most elementary level, we can all relate to one another through basic human connection. I am human, and so are you, and therefor you deserve my respect. It is when we view the people around us as less than human that things like racial discrimination and genocide become a reality.

This is where respect comes in. If we all respected the basic fact that we are all human beings, the world would be a more gracious place to be. It would be easier to take advantage of every culture's full potential to solve perplexing problems such as world hunger and the global water crisis.
"Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be." - Leo Tostly

Instead of looking down at people that do things differently than we do, we should understand that every single person in this world has a positive side to them. Everyone has something good to offer. For example, Alfred Noble invented dynamite as well as the Noble Peace Prize. Every human comes with a set of past experiences and developmental environment that dictates who he or she becomes. My philosophy is to respect the human experience in all its glory, whether it conforms with mine or not.

Signed On For Life

Perhaps one of the main differences between living here in the United States and living overseas in Palestine is the access availability to the internet. When I was in Palestine, I was almost never on the internet. When I was, it was for a very short time and the connection was extremely slow, and that was fine. I never resented the disconnect because I had other ways to fill my time. There was always TV and hanging out with friends. I did not need the internet to keep me busy.

The scenario was completely different when I moved to the United States. Here, if a page took more than 10 seconds to load, people are ready to pull their hair out. ( I eventually became that way too)

Although the abundance and easy access to information in the United States is a positive aspect of life here, it has become so engrained in our society that we have become dangerously dependent on it. Things can be good in moderation, and just because something is beneficial, this does not mean that we should push it and overuse it to the point where it counteracts its original purpose.

For example, social connection is an important sentiment in every society. We all want to belong to someone and to feel a sense of companionship with the people around us. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter serve a grand purpose of easily connecting people to one another. These social media sites served their purpose for some time, but soon turned into a forum for what some might call a "False Connection". This is because users do not get the real experience of communicating with someone and connecting with them on a deeper level. Another negative side effect of the excessive use of social media is the decreased productivity of those who become addicted to its use.

People overseas use the internet, but not to the level that is is used here in the US. Since you can't miss something you have never had, society runs just fine with less social network interaction. Instead, they direct their energy towards real life conversations and face-to-face connections. This leads to more sincere relationships that last longer and that are ultimately more successful. The way things sound when they are read through the Facebook chat window is different than when it is heard in a live conversation complimented with voice tones and facial expressions. Online, we have time to think about our response, and mold it to fit what the person we are chatting with wants to hear because we want to feel a sense of acceptance. In real life however, responses are more spontaneous, and thus more honest and genuine. Some might argue that we do not spend enough time online to consider this a real problem.

Despite the positive aspects of the Middle East's lack of dependance on social media, it is important to mention that they do have a keen interest in changing that. People in the Middle East and in many other parts of the world look up to the United States for many reasons, the free use of the internet being one of them. In their perfect world, everyone would have the same accessibility to the internet as U.S citizens do, and I believe that this will soon become the case. When this happens, it would be safe to assume that third world societies will face problems similar to the ones first world countries with full access to the internet are facing today.

 Today, people are spending more and more time IMing, chatting, texting, and e-mailing than ever before. While these quick methods of communication are helpful in many ways, they must be used with a sense of responsibility to ensure their proper usage without suffering the negative effects of their extensive use. Quick communication skills are essential in today's society, but so is human interaction.
Communication pioneers are aware of the problem and have made some strides to make things a bit more personable. So we saw things like FaceTime and Skype emerge. But is seeing someone's face on a screen while talking to them enough? Does it make up for not being in the same room with that person? Is it even better than being in the same room? What is the future of these technologies? These are all questions that perhaps do not have answers yet. the closest thing we can get to an answer at this point would be an opinion. It could depend on who it is we are talking to. Maybe the perfect balance would be somewhere in between digital and face-to-face communication. Whatever the answer may be, being conscious of the way we communicate with the people around us is a good start to ensuring we live our lives as conveniently as possible without missing out on the actual human experience.

The World On My Wall

Travel is very important to me. But since plane tickets cost an arm and leg and I am not related to Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey; my traveling opportunities are quite limited. With that being the case, I try to bring pieces of the world to me.
Most of my friends are just as passionate about traveling as I am.
It all started back in high school when a friend of mine went to France, and surprised me by sending me a postcard from Paris. On the back, she wrote what she was doing and what she saw around her at the moment. There is something magical about suddenly being transferred to a moment somewhere half way across the world. A part of me wanted to make a connection with the place this postcard came from. I immediately thumbtacked it on my map, and the project began.
Every time any of my friends goes to a new country, they bring me back a key chain, an ear ring, a postcard, or anything that is small enough to be thumbtacked to the wall. Each new piece brings new curiosity and a thirst for knowledge about that country. Every piece has a story.
 I have earrings that were handmade by a lonely old woman in India. There is big sentiment behind something so small. The beauty and intricate detail of the earrings tell a story. One that I am not completely familiar with yet still very happy to be even slightly a part of.
Ideally, I would like to go visit this woman and thank her for making such beautiful things and for giving me a connection to a foreign land. Ideally, I would have a cup of tea and carry out a conversation with her. But since this is not an option for the time being, I would be content with knowing that I have something to connect me to someone with a completely different background and perspective on the world.


"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover"
- Mark Twain

Big Work

During my senior year at Virginia Commonwealth University, I was given the opportunity to work with a team of five to develop and execute an advertising strategy. We had to do so for a wonderful local nonprofit which was created as a part of Habitat for Humanity. The mission was to increase awareness about Restore, a non profit store chain that sells gently used home goods, then uses the money to build homes for people who cannot afford a place to live. Because Restore is a non profit, they do not use any of the proceeds to improve the appearance of the store. Everything they make goes toward building the homes, which leaves the store looking a little less than fabulous.
In the past, people who have tried to deal with this problem ignored the fact that people avoid Restore because of its appearance as well as its shady location. My team and I decided to face this problem head on, and built a strategy around the ugliness of Restore.

With me being the strategist on the team, I had to start with the manifesto. I wanted to portray Restore through the relational concept of a selfless mother who puts 100% into looking after her children and often neglects herself in the process. This was my way of making the ugly look good.

The manifesto read:
Everyone likes to help everyone else. Deep down in our hearts, we all want to better the world we live in and to make a positive difference before we leave. But everyone also likes to shop for their homes, everyone is looking for that unique piece that will set them apart from everyone else. We have all tried the generics, Lowe's, Home Depot, Goodwill, or Walmart, and while they satisfy our needs to a certain extent, we are always missing that sense of originiality and distinction, and most importantly; we are missing the sense of gratification we get from making a positive difference in someone's life.

Most companies are satisfied with making grandeous amounts of money off of their consumers and putting them right into their pockets. Habitat For Humanity with ReStore wants to change this. They don't want to spend a ton of money on merchandise and sell it to you for double or triple the price, they want you to donate your gently used everything so they can sell it for a fraction of the price to those trying to save, and to use the money they make to build a home for someone in need.

We need a home store that is selfless. A home store that is by the community, for the community. A place that takes everything given to it and putts it right back into the community where it belongs to improve people's lives and to make a positive difference in the world.



This manifesto then inspired me to film and edit an informational video about Restore, showing the humble reasons behind its less than perfect appearance.



The client loved all of the work and is using it all as a part of an active campaign to better their business.

All That I Am

I wear a hijab (The traditional cloth muslim women wear on their head). I try to carry myself modestly, and if anyone asks me anything about my religion or the Middle East, I am more than happy to voice my opinion and talk to them about it.

I am aware that living in the United States puts me in a position of inquiry. I am aware that I represent my country and my religion whether I like it or not, and I am aware that I need to be conscious of my actions at all times to ensure always presenting a good image to those who do not know much about who I am.

This is all great, but it doesn't define me.

I have noticed that often times, people here have put me in a certain category based on what I look like. I am Muslim and I care about the environment, I am Muslim and I care about the homeless people in Richmond. I am Muslim and I am all about matching my scarves to my outfits. I am Muslim and I love listening to music, and looking at art, I love to dance, I can talk to anyone and I have a huge passion for learning about new cultures.

There is more to me than what you see. I care about more than what is happening in Palestine, Egypt and Syria.

while my cultural background is quite rich and has benefitted me in many ways like teaching me Arabic in almost all its forms and dialects , it has not hindered me from exploring new cultures and experiencing new ways of doing things. Because while we do come with a sort of package built from what we are taught and the things we are surrounded by at an early age, we as humans are given the mental and emotional capacity to explore at our own convenience and using our own judgement. Where a person is from is significant, but it definitely does not define him or her or what he or she will become.

Using the amazing powers of our thinking and our experiences, the possibilities are endless.

Wording

Homeless People.

Richmond has plenty of them around. I see a bunch everyday standing in their same usual spots depending on what time of the day it is.
At some point, they all begin to look alike. Dirty clothes, messy hair,scruffy faces, and perhaps the most common item; the cardboard 'Homeless, please help' sign. The signs have come to be such a big part of homeless culture to the point that we don't always read them assuming that we already know what's written. "homeless, please help" or "will work for food".

The message gets repetitive after a while and on a busy monday morning, we might not notice them. Whether they are aware of it or not, homeless people must advertise in order to survive. Those who are not aware of the importance of what's written on that cardboard sign might have to suffer more than those who do. I was fortunate enough to meet a man that had the right idea, but just needed a little push in the right direction.
On my way to VCU back from my internship at Feedback Agency, I always get caught at this one light that takes an annoyingly long time to turn green. Over the past couple of months of daily encounters with this light, I developed some impressive skills to keep myself from getting frustrated with how long the wait takes. Like tapping my dashboard to a rhythm that sinks with the flashing left signal on the car in front of mine, and then making up a song to that beat about how my day is going.
(yes, it takes that long)
I got so caught up in my non existent singing abilities that I didn't really take a second glance at the man sitting on the median asking people for money. It's not because I didn't care, he just fit it in so well with the generic homeless person in Richmond stigma, nothing about him caught my eye, until today.

Homeboy was in a suit!

yes! on the median, cardboard sign in hand, with a suit on. He was obviously trying really hard. I was intrigued.
I rolled down my window and asked him how he was doing... he said he was doing "pretty good, just looking for a job". I looked at his cardboard sign... it sucked. The generic homeless need help stuff.
I looked at him and said
"I like that you are wearing a suit, but I don't like your sign. I think you could write something more compelling than that"
He looked interested in what I said, so I continued
"Why don't you make it say, "Homeless, but not helpless-- will work for food" or something like that"
His puzzled look turned into a smile and he said
" That's genius! On it! Thank you ma'am!"
The light then turned green, I wished him luck and drove away.

This is weird, but I'm excited to drive by tomorrow to see if he really did listen to me.
It was interesting to see a homeless man wearing a suit and actually try to look professional. A professional homeless person.. I dig it.
There is something captivating about someone who is at rock bottom trying to present themselves in the best, sometimes most creative way possible. It gives life a new appreciation.
Look at everyone with an objective lens, you never know what you might see.



This is where I got my idea, yea I copied her, but what's the point of watching inspirational videos if you don't act upon them?


The homeless man was gone the next day. I have not seen him since.

First Impressions

I was sure that a pretty cheerleader with her short skirt and snippy attitude would put my head down the toilet at some point during the day. I was sure I wouldn't fit in. There was no way, I was too different. No one would want to be friends with the girl with the thing on her head. The only way I would be considered "cool" is if I completely let go of what I believed in, put on a short skirt and some high heels, and bullied those who were weaker than me.
I braced myself for having the worse two years of my life.
The movies I used to watch in Palestine like  ''Clueless'' and ''Mean Girls'' fed my fears and misconceptions. These movies and others like them were my only window to American society, and they taught me that in order to succeed in America, I must look like a Barbie and show no mercy to anyone in my way.
I learned that people like me, foreign, with a different set of beliefs and a unique appearance were doomed to be criticized and marginalized. In Palestine, I was student body president, here I would be avoided. Eating lunch on the bathroom floor was definitely in my future.

I told myself that I had to make a choice... I either had to let go of who I was to become someone else and please my peers, or to stick with my identity and hope for the best. I chose the latter.
Today, six years later, I find that decision to be one of the best I have ever made.
I made friends my first day, people appreciated and respected the differences I brought, everyone was impressed with my "perfect english", and I won the best personality title in the graduating class of 2008.
I am still not sure if the reason I've had a such a great time since I've been here is because I had extremely low expectations, or if it is because people in Virginia are just generally really nice...
Whatever the reason may be, I was happy to see that although my differences raised some questions in the beginning, I was able to overcome them and people accepted me once they had the chance to get to know who I was.

One of my friends in high school once told me; "When you walked into class, I thought you were going to be really quiet and isolated, and I didn't think you could speak any English. But then you started answering questions and... well I just didn't think that kind of English would come out of you!"
I quickly learned that this was a trend. When people first speak to me, they default to speaking slowly and loudly. To be completely honest, I really do enjoy the look of surprise that I get after I respond. It never gets old.