This piece landed just as I have been thinking lately about being caught between worlds. There may be a post in there from me somewhere or not, but I'm not sure. Suffice to say, although not from a Latino background, I can relate.
Being Latino or a child of immigrants is the context, but yeah, the broader point is just as you say: being caught between worlds. I think most people can identify with that.
It becomes better over time. For many children of immigrants, the tension between assimilation into the host culture and affiliation with the home culture can feel acute during adolescence. Later, however, the dual attachments cease to function as mutually exclusive. You learn to carry both cultures without apology. Of course, adolescence can expand into old age; the experience of not being enough is also never just internal because discrimination and exclusion know no age limits. But you learn to deal with it differently and, as you do here, become your own author.
This piece landed just as I have been thinking lately about being caught between worlds. There may be a post in there from me somewhere or not, but I'm not sure. Suffice to say, although not from a Latino background, I can relate.
Being Latino or a child of immigrants is the context, but yeah, the broader point is just as you say: being caught between worlds. I think most people can identify with that.
It becomes better over time. For many children of immigrants, the tension between assimilation into the host culture and affiliation with the home culture can feel acute during adolescence. Later, however, the dual attachments cease to function as mutually exclusive. You learn to carry both cultures without apology. Of course, adolescence can expand into old age; the experience of not being enough is also never just internal because discrimination and exclusion know no age limits. But you learn to deal with it differently and, as you do here, become your own author.
It can take a lifetime to unlearn harmful behaviors, but as long as you're trying, it's a life well spent. Thanks for reading, Yasemin.