Honestly, this unit makes me feel a bit uncomfortable because it's a topic that I think isn't needed to be spoken aloud about. Even if my mom brings up about certain aspects of it, I end up looking away because its a topic that is completely out of my comfort level. When it comes to illness and dying, I see my mother as a stronger figure than I am because she is able to voice her opinion while I tend to turn my back to it.
But, when it comes to how my mother perceives death and illness, it is similar to my views as well. There's only one life to live, and while this is a cliche I take it very seriously at times. While it is true that I use many of my time on electronic use, I don't see it as a negative thing necessarily. I use my phone and go on facebook because I like to keep connected with friends even if they're not with me in person all the time. Even besides electronic use, I take my time helping out with family chores and taking several extra-curricular activities.
For my mom, illness and dying is just something that happens in life. No matter what, death comes to every individual and that is something we all have to accept as we go on in life. As death comes nearer, we become more conscious about our existence and try harder to make our lives more worthwhile. My mother belives that while holistic medicine can make a person more healthier and recommends me to use it for prevention methods, but it isn't effective when a person becomes truly ill. Holistic methods only work only up to the point until the individual becomes really sick. While Allopathis medicine does not always work, my mo turns to that dominant method because it can cure. Even through a friend's friend who turned down surgery because she didn't believe in it, ended up unneccessarily sick. We have to turn to allopathic medicine in times of illness and that is how she (and I) think its the best way to face illness.
My grandma also is more on the allopathic side as well. She is sent to hospitals and goes see doctors because she does think that doctors and hospitals help her. She was a dancer when she was young, so she was originally in good shape which I think is still holistic. My grandpa on the other side is strongly holistic. Even though lately he's body isn't as strong as he wants it to be, every summer I went to Japan I took long tiring walks with him every night. Even in the mornings, I would see him walk out the house before 6AM to take walks. I think because of his strong holistic views, he looks a lot younger than his true age and is able to care for my grandma.
From my understanding of dominant culture perspectives, there were mostly overlaps of ideas from my mother's viewpoint and the culture's viewpoint. The dominant perspective is the allopathic medicine as the solution for illness and dealing with dying. My mother, as already mentioned, agrees with the dominant viewpoint and is only slightly agreeing with the minor holistic methods.
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