Watching and Listening to the inspiring speaker, Taiye Selas,” in the TED talk, “Don’t ask where I’m from, ask where I’m a local,” was such an eye opener; i learnt that where you are from doesn’t have to be the country you are born in or the country your parents were born in, it is much more than that.

Selas adds a very interesting example saying,”What if we asked, instead of “Where are you from?” — “Where are you a local?” i found this very fascinating as by changing one word you can know so much more about the people around you. In addition, this would tell us so much more about who and how similar we are. Furthermore, Selas proposes a three-step test. Calling them the three “R’s”: rituals, relationships, restrictions. Rituals by asking people about their lifestyle with the simplest questions; fro example do you workout? how do you take your coffee? how was your rituals when you were a child differ from now? Relationships by asking people who are the people around them and who do they surround themselves with and enjoy their company, for example. She also added that when people are  local they carry out their rituals and relationships, but how they experience their locality depends in part on people’s restrictions. For instance, by asking where are you able to live? What passport do you hold? Are you restricted by, say, racism, from feeling fully at home where you live? Finally, these aspects help people learn more about each-other and grow fonder and closer emotionally.

This speech made me look at things from a different perspective and that one word can have a colossal impact on me and the world.