Tonight I attended a dinner for the board I serve on at Utah Valley University.  It was a western BBQ with cowboy hats and boots and sweet belt buckles!  They had a banjo player and a yodeler and they did some cowboy poetry.  It was a great evening and it reminded me of when we lived in Nashville, Tennessee with the bluegrass bands that were so fun to see perform.   It was a really nice evening and it was so fun to escape from the everyday in order to expand our cultural horizon.

As we drove home I couldn’t help but think that we all ought to try a little more to step out of the norm and expand our cultural horizons far more often.  We get so stuck in the routines of normal life that we almost forget the joy that can come from learning and enjoying other fun cultures.  And when I say fun cultures that doesn’t mean we have to always be visiting another country in a far off land – it can mean simply experiencing a different genre of music for a change, or learning about another person’s religious beliefs, or learning about the differences of the different cities or states throughout your own country.

For example, I sat at a table with a gentleman who was up visiting from Lubbock, Texas.  It was so fun to talk about Texas and the funny sayings the men use there, such as “that man is all hat and no cattle”.  Just learning more about the area he lives in was a lot of fun and each time we do that we expand our own horizons just a little bit more.  And I picked up a few good sayings that I can’t wait to use :).

Saturday night I will be attending an event to support the India Cultural Center and Hindu Temple here in Utah.  The guests will all dress in their authentic Indian attire and enjoy an evening of Indian entertainment.  I have spent a lot of time in India because my company had offices there and I have loved learning all the traditions of the Indian culture, but there is still tons more I don’t know and I love attending events this because it always teaches me a little more about things like the traditions of India dancing and the meaning behind their dances and it is really cool to learn about that.  Plus, let’s be honest here – no one bedazzles clothing better than in India – talk about gorgeous fabrics and clothing!!! I LOVE IT!

The message I am trying to get through to everyone today is this:  GO EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS A LITTLE MORE!  The weekend is almost here so make it a goal to do something this weekend to expand your horizons and then please come back and comment on this blog post with what you did so we can all learn from each other’s experiences over the weekend and expand each of our horizons tenfold!

Have a great weekend everyone!
~Amy