Family Heritage and Individual Identity
The involvement of family members in certain activities like sharing stories enhances family bonding. This also strengthens the identity of the family and its members. An individual's self-identity is influenced by family traditions and cultural legacies in different ways. This might be positive or negative. Negative legacies will portray aspects that are unattractive while favorable legacies will portray aspects like cohesive, caring, and hardworking families. Favorable legacies are what have entailed our family as we are all hardworking and aim to achieve the best in our lives. Born in a family of individuals who own or work in farms means that we have inculcated in us an aspect of hardworking and teamwork. Being the first one in our family to go to college means that other look upon me to set a good example to the younger family members. Sharing stories of college with my siblings and other family members is aimed at sharing experiences that would encourage the others to aim higher and also attend college. The question what are you? elicits many different answers as has been portrayed by Kelley (2003). People will look at one's looks and appearance and pass judgment even before one introduces them self as from the race or culture they are being associated with. This misconception of wanting to identify people based on our own interpretations means that individuals who do not fit any identifiable notion get misjudged and this can have a negative impact...
However, to other individuals, the pressures of familial culture could be an inhibitor to their own individuality. This is mainly because their inner sense of what they deem appropriate might be counter to the rules that have been instilled by their family traditions. Therefore, the family influence on an individual could be up to an individual. One has the option to live up to the customs and traditions of their family or they can reject these customs and traditions and create their own identity. This rings true for my case as I opted to follow a different route as opposed to the one my family members had followed. Coming from a family of farmers, it was strange that I wanted to join the military and also get a college degree. Forming my own path and still maintaining some of our family traditions and cultures have been beneficial. A majority of children will follow in the footsteps of their parents, but some will create their own paths. This is demonstrated by Walker (1973) where one of the daughters has a taste for the finer things in life as compared to her mother who appreciates the little that she gets.
Family narratives are the best ways for a family to create a sense of identity among its members. Storytelling has been used for generations to pass on information from the older…
