Immersing ourselves in new and unknown environments is an opportunity to learn and understand more about different people, communities, and various aspects of life as a whole. Throughout my life, and especially over the past few years, I have been privileged to meet and learn more about a variety of cultures and community groups that I never would have previously involved myself in.

One aspect of my work that is great is that we have an extremely diverse work environment. Consequently, we have a range of different cultures and ethnicities that all view the world in a somewhat different light. Throughout the year, these separate cultural and ethnic groups have gatherings and events within the office to celebrate different festivals. In these events, they will share food, stories, and provide a small insight into what it means to them and why. I always enjoy these events because I get to see a deeper insight into some of my colleagues' lives, passions, ideologies, and perspectives. All of these, whether they align with my own beliefs or not, create a new experience of understanding the world for me.

On a daily basis, we are all subject to new and unknown facets of life that we may consistently choose not to embrace. Some of our closest friends or family may be involved in groups, clubs, or environments that we may have always dismissed simply because it may not fit within our life model. This is not necessarily a bad thing because we are simply not able to try and embrace every peripheral aspect of our worlds, primarily due to time or responsibility constraints, but for a wide variety of reasons.

However, immersing ourselves in new and different cultures, groups, clubs, or environments offers opportunities to learn, understand, and potentially improve ourselves and our lives. Simply seeing or hearing a new perspective may open our minds to new ideas, expose an underlying hobby or interest, or even create new pathways to aspects of our lives we may never have thought possible.

Although we all have a somewhat set path in life, and deviation at times can be incredibly difficult because of a variety of constraints, when an opportunity arises that allows us to learn more about a new culture or environment, a new perspective or ideology, I think we should immerse ourselves completely at that chosen point in time. I believe that full immersion into any aspect of life can create pathways to growth in multiple previously unexplored areas. Throughout these new and unexplored areas, we may find a range of different things that can contribute strongly to our search for happiness.

Thanks,

Dean