Global is the new Local
Growing up in Vietnam, I knew all the local kids in my neighborhood and hanged out with them almost everyday. All this changed completely when I came to the US with my family at 10 years old. The area we lived in with our grandparents was predominantly Caucasian and I was the only Vietnamese among the few Asians throughout my middle and high school. The ironic thing was I didn’t feel like I really belong with all my American friends in high school and in college I was somehow too whitewashed to fit in among my new Vietnamese friends I had made. It took me many years to overcome my cultural identity crisis and truly embraced both my Vietnamese and American side.
As I was coming to terms with my cultural identity, another split in my personal identity had unknowingly occurred. The Vietnamese friends I was hanging out with during and after college were older than I was at the time. They were more matured and I had learned much from them but I was also unwittingly influenced by their rather traditional view of the world. Similar to the metaphorical story, I felt like the eagle egg that had mistakenly hatched among all the chicken eggs. I wanted to soar the sky but was told by all the chicken that it was irrational and impossible to do so. And for years, I believed them.
It was an extremely difficult decision for me to take a leap of faith and jumped off the mountain that was my secure career to see if I can truly fly into the uncertain sky of solopreneurism that held the freedom I’ve always longed for. Even though most of the people in my life tried to be supportive, I could feel most of them does not truly understand my true reason and motivation. It wasn’t until the World Domination Summit in Portland that I immediately felt “belonged” and that everyone understood me before I even opened my mouth. WDS’s theme of “community, adventure, and service” and underlying question posed to 1000 attendees of “how do you live a remarkable life in a conventional world?” has attracted countless remarkable people from all over the world and all walks of life.
In Australia, there are:
In Europe, there are:
In North America, there are:
And there are my fellow world travelers with no home base:
I came to WDS by myself and in a week, I’ve made more like-minded friends than I had in all my life. And the wonderful thing is that even though we’ve all just met, it feels like I’ve known them for years. I can go on about each and everyone I’ve written above and there are also many others I’ve met but haven’t had a chance to get to know all that well yet. Through Facebook, we are able to stay connected and find out what each other is up to. And thanx to Google Hangout, most of us are able to participate in weekly chat sessions and continue having meaningful conversations where we help keep each other inspired, motivated, and accountable for our own aspirations in life. Twenty-five years ago when I was 8 years old, all the friends I had were locals within a mile radius of my house; whereas now, all my new friends span the globe. Global has truly become the new local!
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Interbeings by Hung Pham
Global has become the new local Connected we are one and all I am in you and you are in me Close your eyes and you will see
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