Italy and the US are not the same. But that’s obvious isn’t it.

Uprooting your life and moving to a new culture should never be done with the expectation that your life will be the same as it was. I moved with the opposite expectation. I was excited to live in a new culture and experience life from its perspective. But our mother culture is tied to the deepest parts of our souls. Every ounce of “openness” to embrace a new culture is counterbalanced by an innate anchor attached to the culture I have been immersed in my whole life. 

Any good resource on cultural intelligence should talk about dimensions of culture, how each dimension is a spectrum which cultures align themselves along, often more in favor of one end versus the other. The dimensions touch on all aspects of life: time orientation, individualism, power distance, etc. 

Apart from soccer, the biggest cultural difference in moving to Italy has been the life-style mindset of “being”. A job isn’t all encompassing. There’s room to breathe and enjoy life outside of work. Long lunches and dinners to enjoy the company of others is an almost everyday occurrence. A promotion or title doesn’t define a persons identity. There’s no sense of urgency to do the next greatest thing, or push yourself to the limit to be the best. 

Neither “being” or “doing” cultures are the right way to live. However, it is interesting to think about which on side we tend to lean. Coming from the fast paced, “corporate” culture of the US, I’ve really appreciated the slower life I lead in Italy. It’s left me time to reflect, to dig deeper into the word, to explore hobbies I’d forgotten I loved, and to spend time developing meaningful and impactful relationships.

Jesus had a mission while He was on Earth. A big one at that! Yet so often he seems to be leading an example of “being”. Being in solitude. Being in communion. Being in fellowship. The list goes on. There’s a time to act and a time to be still. Before his first miracle, Jesus said his time is not yet come to do. Before he raised Lazarus from the dead, he took time to be and mourn with his friends. So many more examples are found throughout the Gospels.

As humans, we are so quick to pick one extreme over the other. In the end, neither extreme will lead to eternity. The perfect example of the balance between “being” and “doing” that we need to strive for is seen in Jesus. Jesus said his time had not yet come, but then he turned gallons of water into wine. Jesus had a moment to mourn the loss of his friend, but then he raised him from the dead. When we quiet our hearts and minds by being, it often lets us more clearly hear what God is calling us to do.

Be in the presence of God. Be in communion and fellowship. Be in the present. But then use those moments as avenues for action in what God has called you to do.

These are some of my favorite pictures since moving here of Italians just being Italian 🙂