Being Honest About Being Italian American

Its all or nothing with me at times.. you might get a few posts in one week or none in two weeks. This Italian American Girl must be honest to the readers, I don't like to make things up or come up with a phony editorial calendar for the Italian American Girl site, I post when I've experienced something or think you the audience could benefit from certain cultural events or topics that you haven't heard about ten thousand other times.


I think its important for you guys to know that yes, I may not be banging out posts on a daily but I will guarantee you that I am genuine about my blog and not looking to be at every event in the tristate area or collect as many Facebook fans as possible. At times I hold back what I really want to say, because it may not be politically correct.

A lot of how I feel and my genuine character come from once again my upbringing, my parents brought me up to be me and no one else, don't follow what the kid next door is doing just be you. If it means sticking out like a sore thumb then so be it. Cultural individual-ness is what makes a person. I talked about different degrees of Italian American in another post a few months back and I feel even stronger about it now. Everyone has their own degree of Italian American, some are first generation like me, where sometimes I don't always understand the actions of other Italian Americans. (But, that's OK) The point I'm trying to make here is we're all trying to remain connected to who we are and sometimes that occurs on different levels some good, some bad and some very phony. Its up to you to decide how you want to educate or remain connected to your cultural heritage.

It's like school, when the teacher or professor tells you to always use a credible source.

Ciao-
Margaret

Photo: Copyright of Italian American Girl - 2010

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Italian American Girl - Where Have I Been?

Its been a while, yes I dropped off the map a little from my Italian American Girl duties on line, but never in real life. I've had a lot of challenges lately with life, career and everyday happenings. Thank God, nothing terrible but the usual. The "usual" in my life includes the Italian American upbringing, I don't know I was having a discussion with my sister the other day and asking-- do people think the way we do or is it because of our upbringing? I know I can't function without my family and we all collectively make decisions and know that what we decide always affects the family. Yes, the family.

Its funny, I go back on some of my old posts and see what I've written or talked about when it comes to stereotypes, struggles and the daily task of fitting into Americanized cultural traditions and no matter how much time passes; I realize these things are always a challenge and never change. You can't forget who you are or where you come from.

I am so consumed with work and my daily life that sometimes I feel like the outside world wants you to forget about your cultural upbringing and I struggle with this hard core. Understanding American-isms is part of everyday, but at times I know those "isms" are the very thing that could easily erase who I am. I can't have a conversation with anyone without talking about my culture or how the way I was brought up influences my social mannerisms or how I engage with others. Does anyone else think about this?

Wow, so the ultimate question is, "Where have I been?" I'm here just looking in and listening. I want to regroup, re-energize and come back strong on Italian American Girl.

You, the readers of IAG, have made this blog so successful and the next step has arrived, I want more!

I love that saying, "Love what you do and never work a day in your life." That most certainly applies to the Italian American Girl site.

Get ready!

Love-
Italian American Girl

Margaret

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Buon Natale....Merry Christmas To All the Italian American Girl Readers.

Dear Amici,

Another year has gone by and we're celebrating Christmas eve and day in the next two days. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to each and every single one of you for your love and support over this past year. Christmas is an enormously important and spiritual holiday for the Italian family, and in celebrating this joyous time, we come together and share love, food, traditions, religion and compassion for one another. We get caught up sometimes in the hard weighing dictating and sometimes negative parts of daily life, but we have to always remember to do better, love, help and count our blessings. Again, I wish you all the best this Christmas season and a Happy Healthy New Year. Buon Natale! Baci!

-Margaret Tweet