117: "There’s not one way to be Filipino. My feeling of belonging is based on wherever I am now with myself.” Sampling cultures, land acknowledgments, & the somatic effects of culture shock with Magdalena Valderrama

Rural resident, Co-Founder & Development Director of the Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association, and meditation community elder Magdalena Valderrama sits down with co-hosts Jen & Nani to share her diplomatic family’s migration story from the Philippines to the U.S., and how her & her four siblings’ different interpretations of their shared experience has translated into the diverse collection of identities they hold today.

In her story, she learns to overcome the initial waves of culture shock & grows a unique appreciation for New York’s wide range of (specifically non-Filipino) hyphenated Americans, who she later realizes would play an essential role in teaching her about her own history as a Filipino American.

The confrontations Magdalena has faced in learning her cultural history have pushed her into a lifelong practice of accepting herself as she is, over & over again. In reflecting on her life’s journey, she asks us all to consider we’re more than what we look like; and as we contemplate that mystery of existence, to take note of where our happiness truly comes from.

Learn more about Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association at www.sscra.org, or connect with Magdalena on LinkedIn: Magdalena Hurwitz and on Facebook @seiglerspringslakecounty.

Resources Mentioned:

• What, Where, When, How, Why and Who To Remember To Be Happy (illustrated book for children, and also a separate CD narrated by the author): http://www.dawnhorsepress.com/ProductDetail.aspx?PID=2451
• What, Where, When, How, Why and Who To Remember To Be Happy video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qlvQqN6fDI
• Prior Unity (book): http://www.dawnhorsepress.com/ProductDetail.aspx?PID=4461, and Prior Unity--short video introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x24obZ-e3Yc

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