Happy World Cultural Diversity Day – pass the message along!

Apart from World Hello Day I can’t think of a better time for reaching out across the world to say a special ‘hello’ and to touch the lives of others. What a shame that not many organisations/nations have yet adopted this day to celebrate the wonderful diversity of the people’s of this planet.  For those of us who work in the field of cross-cultural communication and intercultural relationships, today is very special – it’s part of who we are and I was reminded about that when I heard of the death of Robin Gibb this morning…

I was saddened to hear of the death of Robin Gibb on the news this morning as I can remember dancing round my parent’s living room, jigging away to their music and hearing my Dad laughing at me. Happy times. No doubt, the Bee Gees’ music brings back many memories for you, too. Robin, along with his three brothers, have certainly touched the lives of many.  However, when I heard an excerpt from one of his interviews, I immediately saw how similar we are to him as interculturalists.

No, not in the usual way of understanding culture…

In the context of retirement, Robin Gibb said it would be impossible for him to retire because being a songwriter and performer wasn’t something you do but someting you are. And, consequently, you just have to keep doing it as ‘it’ burst out of you. That’s just how I feel!

Interculturalism, isn’t something I do to earn a living – it’s something I AM. I feel it, live it, breathe it (as we say in English).  It’s my passion and where my heart is.  And, the very great thing about our particular industry is that we all feel the same way.  No one can do ‘interculturalism’ half heartedly – just as a job. It becomes part of our identity. So ,even though we may have our own cross-cultural difficulties at times with colleagues, we all understand that interculturalism gives us a platform of best intentions.

So, on World Cultural Diversity Day – may I offer you the following video as way of advice?

Also in May:

World No-Tobacco Day – May 31st

International Day for UN Peacekeepers – May 29th

Africa Day – May 25th

The Day of Cyrillic Alphabet – May 24th

International Day for Biological Diversity – May 22nd

Cultural Diversity Day – May 21st

World Day Against Homophobia – May 17th

World Telecommunications and Information Society Day – May 17th

Mastering the Art of Cheek Kissing

International Day of Families – May 15th

World Fair Trade Day – May 12th

Red Cross Crescent Day – May 8th

Europe Day – May 9th

Wesak – May 5th

World Press Freedom Day – May 3rd

May Day – May 1st

This entry was posted on Monday, May 21st, 2012 at 2:40 pm and is filed under days of significance, General . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.