A Treasure Found at Home

my community is having a conversation about spending time alone, which was suggested as a conversation about not being in a relationship but has quickly moved to something much easier to talk about.

one woman wrote the following as part of her response:

Americans are “low” context, we say what we mean explicitly, we avoid subtley, and am uncomfortable with silence in group settings. “high” context cultures, for example the Japanese, it is not so much *what* is said but *how* it is said, things do not have to be said outloud to be understood, and maintaining a good relationship is valued above speaking what is meant.

this is exactly how i feel here in california, except replace ‘American’ with ‘Texan’ and ‘Japanese’ with ‘Californian’. and skip that part about any of it being understood. i hear people complain about someone in particular, how frustrated and upset they are, but if that person walks in the room they’re full of hugs and “so good to see you”s.

i’m still trying to get my head around it.