Merging stories of origin

It was around 1900. Portuguese whalers sailed before the east coast of the United States. One of the fishermen met an American whaler in a port. They clicked with each other and although they did not speak each other's language well they exchanged stories using hands and feet. The Portuguese told about much poverty at home and that there was too little work. The American had a more positive story: the economy was booming in the United States and he invited the Portuguese to come to Boston where there was enough work for those who wanted to roll up their sleeves. He even offered accommodation in his own house to start with. And so it happened. Not long after the Portuguese had his own housing and he encouraged other family members to follow his example. They came over and got the same hospitality and the opportunities and they were able to contribute to the growth and prosperity of the United States.

I have heard this story of a young American who now lives in Netherlands and has a Belgian girlfriend. The Portuguese whaler in the story was his great grandfather.

Stories of origin prove that nations are made of migrating people and migrating stories.

Migrations and stories are as old as the world. From the nomadic tribes of the Stone Age to the large expanding realms of the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese, the Arabs (not to forget the later European dynasties), all have provided to the dissemination and mixing of stories. It led to a mix of cultures and languages. There are almost no languages that can call themselves 'pure', there are almost no cultures or religions that can call themselves 'pure'. Some national folk tales or epics have their origins in India thousands of years ago, from the Arectic Circle, in countries along the silk route or in Africa. Others are a hodge-podge of old legends and more recent stories. Ultimately we are all part of the large fabric and our stories are woven in it like colorful threads.

Some people want us to forget that. It is incomprehensible that there are politicians who want to raise fences around countries, who want to isolate the 'national' story and by that think they can avoid infiltration of 'alien' stories. Politicians who do nothing but covering the past, present and future with hypnotizing demagogic fear stories instead of allowing common ground to be discovered, resulting in better mutual understanding (and cooperation!).

The same resistance and prejudice (and, of course, the same opportunities) that one can encounter in societies, is found in the business world. Think of mergers. In most cases the story of the 'stronger' partner has to be the dominant story. Why is there so often so little space for the story of the future partner? You also merge with his knowledge, qualities and values, don't you?

Genuine interest in the narrative of the other. True contact, like between the Portuguese and the American more than a hundred years ago. It was a win-win situation: a fusion, a merger of stories without denying the roots. Perhaps resulting in a new story of origin. It's a possibility. Nothing wrong with that.