Learning to Blog

I've been playing with ways to show you my mother, Nova's, Primitive Art. Please bear with me as I experiment with the layout of my blog site

I hope to hear from people who grew up in Appalachian Coal Culture or another unique, isolated culture. I feel we may have many things in common. Once I did a cultural heritage assessment activity in a graduate class and was surprised to find the person most like me in terms of attitudes, values, and world view was a Nigerian, Episcopal Priest. Our work ethics, family devotion, and human rights attitudes were very compatible. Some people in the class remarked, "I don't really have a culture". Do these attitudes emerge from culture? Collectivist communities exist all over the world. I believe East Kentucky is formed primarily of collectivist versus individual values. I see myself as an individualist within a collectivist culture. Where do the common bonds come from?