I know what you must be wondering, “Stockholm Syndrome? As the title of a lifestyle blog?”
Let me explain.
I’ve always been attracted to the countercultural. When other little girls played with dolls, I preferred building forts and collecting bugs. When everyone went crazy for Britney Spears, I pledged allegiance to Christina Aguilera. And like any good millennial, I went through a very solid emo punk phase that I never fully emerged from.
It’s not because I like to “stick it to the man”(though, admittedly, it can feel good to do so) it’s more out of a curiosity toward the underbellies that mass media and trending pop culture neglects.
Why is it that certain cultural movements take flight and other — often way more interesting movements — slip by? Why is it that certain trends and ways of living get repeatedly shoved down our throats ad nauseum when there’s a whole world of options to explore?
That’s what this blog is going to be all about: exploring the underbellies and different ways of doing life.
Originally, I was inspired to start this blog as a way to cope with being stuck in the American suburbs where life can feel like the same, endless barrage of strip malls, big box stores, chain restaurants, five lane byways and car lines that will numb you into a sense of dystopia. Everything can feel very sanitized of culture, bland and downright isolating. It’s a far cry from the lifestyles in regions of the world we flock to on dream vacations — locations like London, Paris, Istanbul, Kyoto, Cairo — where culture floods the senses with varietal spice of life.
You see, I’m about to be a new mom which I know will impact my life tremendously. Since the likelihood of escaping the confines of my HOA-controlled neighborhood shrink counterly to the same rate as my growing belly, I figured writing about other cultures and ways of living could provide a sense of exploration in the coming months and years.
My enamoration with travel and more notably adventure started at a young age. I dreamt of and built imaginary worlds in my head where I could explore with a rotating cast of imaginary adventure buddies. As a teen stuck in a suburb with no autonomy to leave, I would often go to Barnes n Noble and escape to other worlds through books. I was fortunate enough to have a set of parents who prioritized and afforded regular trips, who took us abroad state and country lines fairly often. This only confirmed and fed my wanderlusting soul.
In college and my young adult years I pursued travel further at the expense of my savings account and went on my fair share of adventures, including a multi-month stay in Honduras teaching scuba diving. With my newfound freedom, I vowed I would never go back to living a suburban lifestyle but the reality of the matter is only a small percentage of the population can uphold the ability to really support themselves abroad longterm. And the American suburban sprawl is difficult to escape when its strict sense of urban planning and order fabricates the very seams of our nation’s architecture.
But with becoming a new mom, taking off on adventures won’t be nearly as easy. Despite this, I know my internal desire to explore and travel won’t be going away anytime soon, so a compromise will need to be made.
And I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.
I think for a large number of us, the travel bug is ever present. Our reasons vary on why we want to travel — to experience something new, see exotic locales, try new food — but what they all have in common is a desire to escape the cyclical drudgery that is our daily lives. The gnaw to escape bites at your ankles like a bad flea infestation, and like a flea bite it’s an itch you can’t scratch or satisfy.
Many of us find ourselves held back from being the people we want to be for many different reasons — whether financially, circumstantially, familial or otherwise — and it can lead to feelings of resentment or despair at our life’s situation. I think that’s one of life’s biggest challenges: finding contentment where we’re at. It’s less the “why” and more the “how” you find said elusive contentment that trips people up. I hope through the exploration of different cultures, we can solve for that through this journal.
I hear myself, I’m complaining, yet I’m not. There are many beautiful moments to be had in the quiet of a more traditional way of life. And I want to celebrate those moments in this journal as well, not just rip up the postholes of the white picket fence that is the “American Dream.” I just think we can do it better than The Dream we’ve been fed to date.
In recent years, there are many things about the traditional American Dream and suburbia that have proven to be a breeding ground for loneliness, isolation, depression and other maladies that simply aren’t as prevalent in other corners of the world. And now that we’re identifying some of these degrading trends, why should we continue them?
While we live in a pretty great nation, we can learn from others.
This is a journal that wants to celebrate the beautiful people, places and lifestyles that make this community flourish while bringing new ideas from global destinations to the table. To look at lifestyles and ways of living outside our own that we can incorporate into our own daily lives that combat some of the suburban fatigue we feel. Your days don’t need to feel like an endless loop of work, childcare, traffic, carline and keeping up with the joneses in order to fulfill your right to the pursuit of happiness. Together, we’ll explore the customs, traditions and joys other cultures practice in their lives so you can decide for yourself if there’s something there you would like to add in your own.
It’s inevitable that we’ll all find ourselves in periods of confinement in life. During these times we have two options:
- Option 1: Resent it and let those feelings of resentment fester like a wound that slowly consumes and bitters you.
- Option 2: Acknowledge it and use it as a catalyst.
I don’t know about you, but I prefer the option that explores opportunities that make life a little bit better. And while you don’t have to fully accept less than stellar situations, it helps to at least make peace with it. Hence why this site has been adequately named Stockholm Syndrome.
In a time when it feels like cultures are at war with each other over our differences — even over the simplest of ones — I argue that we can actually learn more from one another’s differences and ways of life than feel threatened by them. Maybe this is my anthropology minor coming out but why belittle another culture’s way of doing things when it clearly benefits them and brings them joy? Why not come to understand it and try it on for size. You don’t have to keep it if you don’t like it. Try it on for size, see how it fits and if it’s not for you at least you can now say you’ve tried and maybe you’ll at least gain a deeper sense of empathy for those who do practice it.
As for what you can expect content-wise from this blog I’ll be focusing on the following:
- Culture: Our biggest topic. Let’s explore other ways people do life.
- Food + Drink: Humans have gathered around food & drink for millennia.
- Home: The home is ground zero for all our lives — no matter where or what “home” is
- Community: People have always come together to find companionship and camaraderie.
- Parenthood: Procreation. Most of us do it at some time or another.
- Career: Work has come to define us in some way, whether we like it or not.
- Hobbies: The pursuits and passions that enrich our lives.
- Exploration: Everyone likes going down a good rabbit hole.
What you won’t see:
- Product hauls
- My skin care routine
- Perfectly curated images: There is so much beauty in the imperfect and messy parts of life. And while I want this journal to help bring more beauty to people’s every day lives, I want it to reflect life which isn’t perfectly manicured. Sure there will be beautiful imagery will make it’s fair share of appearances but expect mess. Because life is messy.
And finally values:
- Celebrate the Everyday: This blog is a celebration of the everyday human. Our stories matter, worth celebrity and worth telling.
- Curiosity: An open mind will go a long way in determining whether or not you will enjoy this blog.
- Tolerance: You don’t have to agree or even like some of the lifestyle choices we’re going to cover. But you do at least have to tolerate the differences in other’s perspectives while engaging with this site and community.
And that’s all I have to say about that. Enjoy!
