Sense of Place

          “There is just one life for each of us; our own.” This was said by Euripides, a Greek philosopher that believed everyone’s life was their own. Therefore everyone has their own life and individuality, which was obtained by their “Sense of Place”. One’s “Sense of Place” is how their life affects who they are, and where they believe they belong in this world. Everyone’s Sense of Place is different, due to the paths that lead their lives, leading through and to different places. Therefore I believe that my Sense of Place is dictated by my culture, environment, and influences in my life.

            Before one is even born, their family’s culture is already in existence. Unlike other factors such as where you live, your culture will always be definite, as it is passed through family and will always be a factor that affects you as well as those who preceded you. For example, my parents are from Thailand, and the culture that we display and practice is that of Thailand. Like the majority of the population of Thailand, we practice Buddhism, as it is part of my culture and the culture of Thailand. It is culture that affects your customs and attitude towards others. Such as the culture for people coming from Thailand or other Asian countries towards the elderly is extremely different than the culture of people in America. In America, there are a large percentage of people that send their parents to nursing homes due to the fact that they’re too lazy to take care of them. At the nursing homes the elderly people sometimes even abused mentally, or even physically. However in Asian cultures, Asian families usually take care of their parents until they die, without having a thought about sending them somewhere else to be taken care of. That is why I believe that culture is a very large part in your Sense of Place.

            One’s environment also dictates the way they react to situations among other factors. The definition of environment ranges from your climate, to the people around you, to pretty much anything that is around you. To first look at climate, the climate obviously affects factors such as what you wear to what temperature that you like putting your thermostat to. In terms of where I live and have lived my whole life, Houston, it has always been hot. Therefore it leads pretty much everyone in Houston to wear shorts, and a t-shirt in order to adjust to the temperature. However during the winter, when it can get to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, everyone suddenly piles layers of clothes upon themselves. In terms of the weather in Houston, 60 degrees Fahrenheit maybe be cold, but compare that to the weather in a place such as New York, in which on normal days, the weather would be 60 degrees Fahrenheit. As stated earlier, another element of your environment is the people that live in it. Houston is an extremely diverse city, housing multitudes of different people of various races, cultures, and customs. Compare this to Topeka, Kansas in which the diversity is very low, the majority of the population is Caucasian. Therefore one’s environment largely affects the way that their Sense of Place develops.

             Much like Euripides said, everyone’s life is their own and is different. Everyone’s Sense of Place is different because of their culture, environment, and influences in their life. It is these things that I believe influenced me the most in molding who I am today. So in conclusion, my life is my own and is unique because of my Sense of Place.