Communications and Media

Hi, everyone. My name is __________ and today, I am going to talk about the practice of sharing and how valuable this trait is for every relationship, especially in friendship. Being charitable, giving to others, or sharing ones possessions are not easy things to do. After all, when you share or give something to others, something is also taken away from you. But one thing that we should know about the reality of life is that no friendship, or any relationship, is ever strongly built without this important trait. Only when a person learns to share could she be capable of establishing lasting relationships with others. Sharing is actually one of the best foundations of friendships.

Shelly Beckers book entitled Mine Mine Mine follows the life of a child named Gail who is very possessive and doesnt know how to share. The title reiterates the resistant behavior of Gail whenever she is asked to share her belongings to her cousin Claire. As a result, Gail always ends up hurting her cousin and disappointing her mother. In the book, readers would see that even when she tried sharing, she was very half-hearted on her actions. She gave away some things, but only those objects that are unusable or unfavorable to her already. It is a very interesting book and readers will see through Gails experiences how selfishness can cause barriers for us to relate well with other people and build lasting relationships.

Like all people, I have also faced the dilemma of not wanting to share. Im having problem with sharing stuff with my cousin recently. She moved out from her parents place a month ago and she was asking me if she can have my furniture and dishes since Im moving back to Korea in summer.  I dont really need them but I feel that since we are not that close even if we are cousins, Id rather give them to my friends. My predicament was quite similar to the story of Gail because she also did not want to share to her cousin. Although, in my part, the hesitance to share was not because I did not want other people to have my stuff but because my cousin and I dont even really talk often. But maybe this act of sharing or giving my furniture to her would be just what we both need in order to build a more meaningful relationship. I am not yet very sure about this, but I am hopeful.

Ways of sharing are different for a lot of people. Different cultures also have different significant practices in sharing. I would also like to give a little information about Korean practice in sharing. In my native culture, we Koreans generally believe that sharing food from one bowl makes a relationship closer.  It is a practice observed especially by people who have very tight or intimate relationships. Personally, I would never share food from one bowl with the person I see for the first time or even with person I do not feel comfortable being with.  For example, I can definitely share with my boyfriend, my friends, and my family. But I could not do this with my boy friends family. My boyfriend and I are very close so I dont have any problem sharing with him but that doesnt mean that I would also feel comfortable sharing one bowl with his parents. Maybe its because we are not really close or because we dont come from the same age bracket. But a sharing a bowl of food is not the only way for me to share or to show my respect to them. It is simply one of the native practices of our older generation to encourage us to be giving to the people we love.

One thing I noticed in American culture is that when people eat in a restaurant, they dont normally share food. Two people order two pizza and they get separate bills.  Well, if it was a bowl of soup, then I get it. But I think types of food like pizza can be shared even if you are not the best of friends.  I noticed this because in a Korean restaurant, people dont usually order same food so that they could share what their food.  For example, when I eat out with my friends, we usually discuss beforehand what the others would like to eat then we order different meals and share it with others. By doing this, we get to taste more food while at the same time learn how to share. Im not saying that we Koreans share better or I am capable of sharing all the time. But even little acts of sharing, like this practice that my friends and I do, are capable of creating powerful impact on the kind of friendship that we have.

Sharing is not limited to giving away of material possessions. It is actually an acknowledgement that you see the other person as someone significant and deserving of what you can give. Sharing is also not only for those you are very close with. There are limitless ways and levels of sharing even for those you are not closely associated too. But sharing always begins with the sincere intention of giving a part of yourself or of what you have to other people.