We all have a lens through which we view the events that happen to us and around us. That lens is largely built by how we are raised and what media we consume.
I teach a course called Senior World Literature, and in the first year that I taught it, I discovered that my high school students have a fairly small view of the world. Even those who had traveled (for leisure OR mission) to other parts of the world often maintained a narrow view of the world at large. I know this partially because I experienced exponential growth from 2000 (my first cross-cultural experience) to 2015 as I grew out of the teen years into a young adult.
Side note: I will never be satisfied with what I’ve seen of the world. I hope I get to visit all seven continents and all 50 US states before I leave this world!
But does one have to travel to experience the world? Most certainly not! In fact, I assert that reading books by diverse culture’s authors about different cultures throughout the world could even be more effective than traveling there. I will talk more about this in subsequent posts, but for some world reading inspiration, meet Ann Morgan, from the UK, who read a book from every country in the world in 2012! This video shows a fast-forward view of her year of reading the world.
For more on her experience, listen to her TED Talk:
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” –Mason Cooley
Reading Fully 