What does diversity mean me?
Wow, that is a very deep-rooted question for me to answer. I have layers upon layers of experiences that have shaped my definition of diversity.
Overall, I think true diversity is having a collective of people who can enlighten each other based on their own personal experiences which stem from their role in this world. By this definition, I have always had a diverse group of friends. People with a variety of attitudes, income levels, family arrangements, sexual orientations, genders, political views, religions, disabilities, educational levels, occupations, cultures, ages, and races. I've never been one for cliques as my curiosity and acceptance of others' lifestyles are far more important. In this respect diversity has enriched my life exponentially!!
That's my honest, though generally over-arching answer. On a much more profound level, I have found that my affinity for people different from myself is a rare quality indeed. So often people seek to be around others just like themselves, which I find difficult to understand (and hard to even tolerate sometimes). There have been very painful examples of this in my life, where my willingness to explore and embrace differences was met with resistance and even rejection. Sometimes that opposition makes me want to be cautious around new people who seem to have similarly diverse qualities to the people who have hurt me. I can go into more detail about some of that later.
So, what does diversity mean to me? It means accepting, learning, growing, changing, loving, and living because of the community of people around me.
Overall, I think true diversity is having a collective of people who can enlighten each other based on their own personal experiences which stem from their role in this world. By this definition, I have always had a diverse group of friends. People with a variety of attitudes, income levels, family arrangements, sexual orientations, genders, political views, religions, disabilities, educational levels, occupations, cultures, ages, and races. I've never been one for cliques as my curiosity and acceptance of others' lifestyles are far more important. In this respect diversity has enriched my life exponentially!!
That's my honest, though generally over-arching answer. On a much more profound level, I have found that my affinity for people different from myself is a rare quality indeed. So often people seek to be around others just like themselves, which I find difficult to understand (and hard to even tolerate sometimes). There have been very painful examples of this in my life, where my willingness to explore and embrace differences was met with resistance and even rejection. Sometimes that opposition makes me want to be cautious around new people who seem to have similarly diverse qualities to the people who have hurt me. I can go into more detail about some of that later.
So, what does diversity mean to me? It means accepting, learning, growing, changing, loving, and living because of the community of people around me.