Day 39: Your Heritage

 

When I think about my heritage, I usually think about being Irish, as my Irish grandparent was the one who was most vocal about and celebratory of her ancestry. Also, the Irish are the ones who have their own American holiday.

But at this prompt, I did just a tiny bit of research into the less discussed parts of my heritage: German, Scottish, and Swedish. I think it's fascinating to find out about other people that some of their personality traits are as much cultural norms passed down from a certain line of ancestry as they are genetic.

And as I look at many of the norms that AI sums up about Swedish culture - reserved and private; egalitarian; value social harmony; loyal friends - I realize that a lot of who I am (and who that branch of my family has been) relates to the Swedish ancestry. That's pretty cool, I'm grateful for that new piece of knowledge gathered from this challenge, and it definitely makes me want to dive deeper into learning about Swedish and Scandinavian culutre as a means of learning more about myself and my family.