Good morning lovely people,
A little post today, that’s helping me open up to what’s around us. The sun is shining so just a little food for thought.
I’m at the phase where the amount I learn from my children trumps what I’m able to teach them. I didn’t see this coming, so quickly or in the content that’s been shared. It’s hugely liberating and continually takes you by surprise.
My moral reference point is more often than not directly sourced from my father. Without a doubt his life experience shaped him, and unconsciously have shaped me. Carefree adored oldest son, interned in the Isle of Man during the war as an enemy alien, lost his father on the Arandora Star at twenty years of age, post war re-establishment with a huge focus on being British, married, eight children and a glamorous wife (Nonna G). I’ll leave that there. My darling father had a love of fun but with tinges of sadness. Generous to a fault. His faded success was tinged with exhaustion. He sadly died too young and all his good is now amplified by a youngest daughter that adored him. Amplified further as Nonna G now lives with us. We all have memories, some are distorted but we choose to cherish the ones that make us feel happy and ignore the rest. Other influences have shaped us not so positively, creating baggage and prejudice, we never realised we had.
Living real time with our children is changing and altering our understanding and our self awareness. Yes we have influenced our children, but to a lesser degree than we were influenced by our parents. The internet has exposed them (good and bad) to so many other world experiences and learnings. The good parts are most certainly a gift that has broadened their minds and in turn broadeed ours, me even more than Victor, as he has always been more culturally sensitive than me.
Unconscious bias (when we make judgements or decisions on the basis of our prior experiences, assumptions and interpretations) and allyship (a new word for me: active support for the rights of a minority or marginalised group that you are not a member of). Understanding culture, ethnicity, race, nationality (and dare I say sexuality) all have different meanings that even me as a minority Italian Scot is something I’ve found I’m struggling to define. If we can’t define ourselves it’s difficult to consider others. Two subjects we’re reviewing and adding to our training programme.
The papers are full of record immigration statistics. In Scotland we don’t see this as a problem. Those who wanted to close our borders for Brexit aren’t liking where we are now. Maybe this will be their excuse to get us back into the EU. I’d be happy with that. We’re not experiencing the shortages of labour reported in the press and we’re thankful to the breadth of people, from home and abroad, that want to work in hospitality.
I’ve learned, largely through my children and our amazing team, it’s good to see the world in its widest and most inclusive space. Learning is good and the best place to start, observe and apply can best be hospitality.
Keep well and keep learning
Thank you as always
Carina
