Polychronic Girl in a Monochronic World W05 2.3.22

If you sang that to the tune of “Barbie Girl”, you would be correct.

I served an 18-month mission in Santiago, Chile in South America. Though they are very developed and have many European ideas, especially closer to metropolitan areas, I experienced and was able to understand something there that I hadn’t experienced anywhere to this extent before living there. As a missionary, we had many scheduled appointments, our day was scheduled out to the half-hour in our agendas; promptness was an important aspect of our obedience to the mission rules, but…

If you know me, you know I’ve never been… the promptest person. Fortunately for me, this was not the most terrible thing in Chile! Living in Chile was the first time I felt like I was on the same brainwave in regard to time with everybody else. Of course, a portion of my lateness can be attributed to my personality and occasional poor time management, but a large portion of it is because I’ve learned through some pretty serious familial trials growing up where my true priorities lie. I will always prioritize my family over work, school, etc. I didn’t realize this at the time, but I can now look back and with some self-evaluation, conclude that this may be due to my proclivity towards polychronic time versus monochronic time.

Whereas monochronic people (and the US, where I live, is largely considered a monochronic culture) tend to commit to work and schedules, polychronic people tend to commit to relationships and opportunities.

Though living in and experiencing the polychronic culture of Chile didn’t help me at all to treat my schedules with more care, it did more for my understanding of the world and my stationary perception from the US than has almost any other experience I’ve had. It did more for my patience; it did more for my sense of compassion, sympathy, and empathy; it taught me that there is not always one right way to do things, even if that is what is implied, and more than anything, it taught me that I am not alone.

There truly are similarities in each and every one of us; we are all just humans on this earth trying to get by. I can have a little more patience with those I don’t understand yet; I can go out of my way to seek appreciation of their culture and their priorities. I imagine the relationships and experiences I would have missed out on if I had always insisted our appointments be on time; if we hadn’t stopped occasionally to visit someone not on the agenda; if we had tried to force the Spirit to adhere to our schedule rather than the other way around.

I am convinced that the key to healthy and successful relationships and subsequent learning and growth is in understanding and embracing our cultural differences.

“The key to community is the acceptance, in fact the celebration of our individual and cultural differences. It is also the key to world peace.” – M. Scott Peck