Cultures & Systems

Most of us know what a culture is right?
You know, a pattern of beliefs and behaviors shared by a group of people.
We all know our specific cultures depending on where we live, and maybe we know our specific cultures of our religion as well. But did you know that cultures exist within families as well? Meaning, your own family can make up its own culture.

Now when learning about that part, I stopped for a little bit to think about what my family's culture would be made up of, and I'd encourage whoever is reading this to do the same. It's interesting to start viewing your family from the outside and finally recognizing these things that make your family what it is.
Whatever your culture is, it makes up your family system. What goes and what doesn't, what's weird and what's normal. Here are some things to think about with your family:

Some families might have cultures where they encourage differences or new ways of thinking that's outside of the family. Or if your family is like mine, they may not really welcome that sort of behavior or feel comfortable with it or think that it's weird if someone "goes outside the norm".

You might also have to think about changes in your family system that affect your culture. For example, separation in the family can cause a change of roles. If the parents are gone for an extended time, the children might bond more with the closest grandparents or uncle that takes care of them. This causes a shift of culture to follow the standards of those grandparents or that uncle that might be different from what it was with the regular parents around.
I think that usually family cultures aren't something that we decide on and set up on our own or something that we can just change as we please. I think they're something that is unconciously formed along with the formation of the family. However, even if the system of culture in your family can't be helped, it will help knowing your own culture. That is what can help the level of understanding within your family.
Something to think about.