This month's newsletter was trash, so I scrapped it

Hey there friend,

I was ahead of schedule this month with my writing (for once). I had written some things about the end of Hispanic heritage month, and Indigenous people’s day coming up next week, and my thoughts on the two. I’d written a lot, but the copy didn’t feel “done.” You know the feeling, right? When a piece of writing, or a proposal, or a workshop outline feels “done” - you stop thinking about it, you feel a sense of calm and peace; it doesn’t keep you up at night.

So Sunday morning, two days after my deadline, I went for a quick walk by myself and I figured out why: it felt contrived - like I was forcing myself to write about an event that holds significance and meaning, but is only one of the DEI-related things I’m thinking about this month. It wasn’t authentic. Frankly, you can find out about regular DEI related events and celebrations on your own - plenty of other people and outlets talk about them.

I’d rather share with you what’s actually on my mind this month when it comes to equity, inclusion, and cultural competence. So this month’s newsletter is going to be a bit of a different format than usual. As always, I welcome your feedback!

Fiction

I’m reading (listening to) a novel called The Sweet Blue Distance, by Sara Donati. It’s set in 1857 and follows a New York midwife, Carrie Ballentyne, on her journey across the country to take a work assignment in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territories. Carrie is white, and her family heritage includes Scottish and Mohawk ancestry. Throughout the book, as she travels by train, boat, and horse to Santa Fe, and subsequently adjusts to her life there, Carrie considers questions about culture, race, language, color, and values. She chooses to marry a man who is half Spanish and half Pueblo; she learns Spanish quickly; she attends the births of women of all backgrounds; she is constantly confronted with situations that require her to adapt to and learn from the people around her.

I found myself identifying very much with Carrie - a white woman who wants to understand, respect, and become an appropriate and authentic part of life in a different cultural context; and all the questions, doubts and mistakes that come along with that learning. While it is fiction, the historical context is accurately portrayed and well researched (don’t trust me, read this review from The Historical Novel Society).

Lots of questions about the Intercultural Development Inventory

I became certified to deliver IDI debriefs at the beginning of this year (for background, check out the website), and I have been doing a LOT of these lately. People in the group and individual debriefs have raised some great questions that have gotten me thinking about cultural adaptation. Here’s one I’ve been pondering after a recent group debrief:

Does being a fully remote work environment influence the group’s primary orientation on the intercultural development continuum?

My first response was “no,” the way you interact across cultures is not going to be different online vs in person.

But as we dug more into this question, I realized that the answer is “maybe.” One of the necessary ingredients for continuing intercultural learning is to come up against behaviors and perspectives that are different from your own. This gives you the opportunity to ask the questions that deepen your own cultural self understanding, and an understanding of other cultures. If we don’t see each other in the break room, arriving at the office, sitting down in meetings, etc., we DO miss some of these opportunities for observing differences. This means we have to be even more observant and curious when we ARE interacting with people; and we have to create more opportunities for ourselves to get out of the cultural bubbles that many of us live in outside of work.

I’m really enjoying this work with the IDI, and would love to work with you or your team on it. If you think it might be a helpful process for you or your team, book some time with me to discuss.

Speaking of Polarization

This has come up a lot in my IDI individual debriefs as well. People who have significant intercultural experience and at some point probably were further along the intercultural development continuum toward Acceptance and Adaptation, are now back in Polarization due to our current political climate. I’ve spoken with folks who want to disassociate from their American culture, their white culture, their family of origin culture, because of the polarizing rhetoric surrounding the upcoming election.

Polarization in itself is not a bad thing; every stage of intercultural development has its strengths and weaknesses. However, if our goal is a functioning society, there will be a limit to what we can accomplish if we only focus on judging superficial cultural differences, rather than trying to understand them.

Happy Halloween?

I was picking my kid up from daycare last week, and a grandmother commented to me that all her grandkid was talking about the last few days was Halloween, and how the kid’s mom wasn’t going to be happy about that. She was speaking to me in Spanish and the gist of what I gathered was that the mom’s religious traditions did not recognize Halloween, and the only reason the kid was talking about it was because of daycare. She laughed about it, but I could imagine mom being unhappy in the least.

Also, my kid has been watching Halloween related educational videos on YouTube over the last week. He asks for them, as he asks for most videos for a couple of days and then moves on to the next favorite batch. One in particular explained the meaning of Halloween but did so in a way that left out all of the historical & cultural context. My kid is only two, but still - I feel that a nod to where the holiday originated and what it means culturally, is important. I don’t want my kid to grow up thinking that Halloween is only about candy and costumes. So I’ve been thinking about how to explain this to him in a way that a two year old can understand. Any suggestions?

Side note, did you know that Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday in the US, after Christmas? (thanks, History Channel)??

Take care,

Lillian

We Want Your Feedback on the Newsletter

I have a sense of what has resonated most with you all by the open rates and the responses I’ve gotten to specific newsletters and content over the last year. As I think about what the 2025 newsletter should look like, I’d love your input. Feel free to reply directly to me with your thoughts on what you want to see more or less of. Thanks in advance!

Send me a direct message!

Curious Corner: Reads & Resources

As Hispanic Heritage Month winds down and Indigenous Peoples' Day approaches on October 14th, explore Hispanic history, the Alcatraz Indian Occupation, and fresh perspectives on intercultural development.

Repeat from last time: History of Hispanic USA

The book Our America, A Hispanic History of the United States, by Felipe Fernández-Armesto is on my reading list for this month, but Edelman’s book review and interview with the author is a useful place to start reading about the history of Hispanic people in the US that Americans didn’t learn in our high school history classes.

Find Out More →

The Alcatraz Indian Occupation

The occupation of Alcatraz starting in 1964 was the beginning of a series of changes in US policy toward indigenous people & nations, and the start of the modern American Indian Rights movement.

Learn More →

Intercultural Development as a Pendulum (rather than an arrow)

Academic article about the Intercultural Development Continuum and what moves people or keeps them stuck in different stages - seems to resonate more with people’s lived experiences and is something I’ve been thinking about.

Read Here→