My Mission Statement (aka why I'm an anthropologist)

So I was thinking today about why I do what I do, and to some extent doubting my ability to do it. Lately, I've found myself watching the many different researchers that surround me in my daily life and, at least in my own eyes, finding myself to be vastly different from most of them. I watch as some of them succumb to seemingly random bouts of genius, while others ferociously gobble up every ounce of knowledge that comes within their reach. I exhibit neither of these behaviors. In fact, despite my sincerest desires to do so, I find that I do very little of the actual work I set out to do. So this led me to the frightening idea, that perhaps, I am not really cut out for this line of work. After all, I spend 90% of my time socializing on one level or another, and the other 10% of my time planning more socializing. So I had to ask myself, "Why am I doing this?"

I tried to answer the question the way I would if one of the Dhimali women I'll be working with in Nepal had asked me. And here's the answer I got. I do this because I am selfish. I want my life to be filled with beautiful things and lived in the most beautiful way it can be. But to do that, I have to find all those beautiful things. I don't feel that I can assume that just because I've done something one way all my life, it's the only way to do things or even the best way to do them. So I set out to learn what I'm doing right and what I could be doing better. And so far it's worked. Before I visited Nepal, I prayed in one way, and it was a good way and I still value it. But now I see there are so many amazing ways to worship god, life, love, whatever you want to call it and I can't imagine how I ever thought I could appreciate or understand a greater power from a single point of view. And before I became part of a Nepali family, I never understood the power that words like sister, brother, mother, and father could mean. Now those simple terms are almost magical to me, because I understand they can create, out of nothing more than sound and breathe, a lifetime of comfort, friendship, and love.

And while my reason for doing this is about as selfish as motives can get, I do hope that some good can come of what I do. I hope that in the end, the people I work with will look at what I've said about them and see the beauty that they've taken for granted in their lives, as they've taught me to see things differently in my own. And I hope that those who later read my work can discover, as I have, that human beings, in all our diversity, are just as beautiful as sunrises over mountain streams, butterflies on newly opened buds, or the golden patterns woven in to sari silk by a skilled hand.

Now that I can look back at my mission statement, I'm certain that I was meant to be nothing other than what I am. I may not be the most studious of anthropologists, and unsurprisingly, I do spend an enormous amount of time being with people that I love until it hurts, but I hope that in the end that's what will make my work stand out. I have every intention of falling in love in Nepal with the people that I meet and the many ways they fill their lives, and mine, with wonderful, amazing things, and I think that's something that the academic community is just going to have to make room for. Read more on "My Mission Statement (aka why I'm an anthropologist)"!