I have this theory...
And I'm probably sticking my neck on the line a bit here, but let me explain.
Ever since I was young, I've just always had an affinity with people from other cultures.
I grew up in quite a populated area down south, and then, a couple of years before Secondary School, moved to a very rural part of the UK.
Which basically meant there weren't many black kids, or kids from other cultures, at my school.
My best friend was one of only two students from a non-British culture at my school.
As a teenager, I remember having an argument with a guy (a friend of my then boyfriend's) about there being too many people from other cultures moving into the area.
But to me, it was just such a moot (and crazy) argument.
Because the same guy loved takeaways, Chinese, Indian, Thai. And maybe it's too simplistic an argument to use food as an example - but it's the start of a bigger argument. Because if people from other cultures had not moved to the area, then he wouldn't have been able to enjoy food from other cultures. And then there's music, and clothes, films and stories...
It's how I look at other cultures in general.
Other cultures are interesting. Because they are different to ours. They might be different to us. But their differences enrich our lives.
Other people, and other cultures, make us look inward. They make us challenge our thoughts and beliefs, shaking it all up so that we look at things from more than one perspective.
Despite the fact I grew up in a rural environment, without lots of influences from other cultures, I can honestly say that I have never judged a person based purely on what they looked like or where they were from.
Only ever on how they make me feel.
And if someone is kind, then that's enough for me.
I also like it when people are interested in other people. And curious about life. And friendly.
But that's it.
Pure and Simple.
In the novel I am writing at the moment - the one I entered into a competition, which would get me an agent, which would make me the happiest person ever (that one) - I'm exploring lots of different topics.
Society's views of old people. Immigration. Racism.
And honestly, I believe the reason why some people just can't accept other cultures is that they feel threatened by the differences - somehow believing someone else's differences will threaten their own way of life.
But as long as we keep living in a country where we are all free to speak our minds, then we remain free. And we can protect our own heritage and culture, whilst celebrating others.
One of my main characters in my book, 81-year-old Lily, is British and white. But like me, she's someone who has never felt threatened by other cultures, even as a child when (also like me) she lived somewhere where other cultures were much less common.
When she moves into a temporary new home, and a temporary new area, she ends up making friends with 57-year-old Yusef, a supermarket owner from Afghanistan who claimed asylum in the UK back in the 80s.
When she witnesses an attack on the shop, by a group of teenagers, shouting abuse at him for wearing his traditional dress, Yusef explains to Lily why it is important to him to still do so.
And his reasoning is reasoning we all would use.
Because all of us - whoever we are - if we moved to another country and became part of another culture, we would (absolutely) try to retain some of our own culture and heritage; the essence, if you like, of who we were.
So I have the scene, and Yusef's words, etched in my head already - part of which I am sharing with you now.
But with the situation in Ukraine and all its fleeing refugees, it seems more important than ever to look at the way we humans view other cultures. But more importantly why.
I also happened to see an amazing musical last weekend, Come From Away, which is the story of Gander, a tiny town in Canada which welcomed passengers from all over the world during the 9/11 terror attacks, when 38 planes were forced to land there because of security concerns.
It's a heart-warming, funny and very moving musical. But the one thing that stands out is the Ganderites' attitude towards the amazing thing they did - welcoming in lots of different cultures from all over the world into their tiny community... doubling it in size overnight.
They still just say that they didn't do anything. That all they did, was the right thing. And that other people would have done it for them if the situation was reversed.
Which is how it should be.
Open door. Open house. Embracing the differences, instead of being scared by them.
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