Is “Emotional Genealogy” Real?

So I recently read an article from The Jewish Writing Project called, Emotional “Emotional Genealogy”. They interviewed Award-winning travel journalist Judith Fein on the topic of what she coined: Emotional Genealogy. When asked, she described it as:

“It is not only the stories that are told and have been handed down, but it is also the family behavior patterns that are transmitted. There are positive behaviors–like optimism, the thirst for social justice, kindness, an artistic or musical bent–but also the dark ones like rage, violence, lying, addiction, stonewalling silence.”

As a young child, I was never really spoken to about my ancestry. All I knew was that we came from Hong Kong. It wasn’t until that fateful day around the time I was 8-10 when my grandfather told me about our family connection to France. He spoke of how my great great grandmother was French, and that my great great grandfather was a Chinese administrator during the Qing dynasty in France! Those words stayed with me since. Around 5th grade, I finally had the chance to choose the next foreign language to learn--so fresh out of the conversation—I naturally chose French!

My fascination grew and grew—and after visiting various countries—France always seemed the most at home for me. I was increasingly drawn to its culture, cuisine, history and arts. I was not fazed by the crowdedness or tourist frustrations of Paris. It just felt natural there. The French language was a lot easier for me to grasp during the first lessons of French at university.

Yet, it is not the only culture I’m drawn to. After finding out about my French heritage, I found out about my grandmother's Macanese heritage which makes me somewhat Macanese as well. During my visit to Portugal, I felt somehow connected to the place, and not just because I loved the food, the azulejos—Portuguese tarts, the fish balls, the pork buns—I simple thought: “I’m comfortable here!”

After that, I am a Hongkonger—I was born in a city that used to be a British colony. Hong Kong is filled with remnants of British culture—the milk tea, French toast, egg, ham and toast breakfast; double decker buses, underground speed rails, dozens of international schools, colonial architecture—you name it.

So coming to England, I felt at home—comfortable. I wasn’t fazed by its crowds nor food. I got around easy, and I felt comfortable hearing British accents since I grew up hearing them in Hong Kong.

Thus, my family is filled with people who dappled in the arts. My grandfather did photography during his spare time, so did my father but he also drew and wrote poetry. I’m not the best at photography but am equally drawn to poetry, theatre, the visual arts—optimism in life was also passed on!

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I'm not sure if it’s true—perhaps Fein was right! Maybe we do inherit various behaviors from our ancestors. We may feel connections with certain cultures because of our heritage/ancestors—a piece of their mind and heart passed on to us through their dna though we may not look like them at all. Nevertheless, we live in a world so blessed with such a large gathering of diverse cultures-languages and countries—it wouldn’t be right to not explore them when we are so close to them!