I noticed this interesting allusion in my lecturer’s WhatsApp status and she evoked my curiosity to think about this from a cross-cultural perspective. She has extracted this allusion from Prof. Christina Maslach’s explanations regarding “Burn out”.
Earlier in the 19th-century miners used the Canaries as a life-saving strategy when entering coal mines. Canaries were the indicators of harmful gases inside the mine. When such gas was present, Canaries became sick before miners, and accordingly, miners avoided entering coal mines.
Canaries saved miners. It seems a great deed to save someone’s life. Isn’t it? From the collectivistic cultural perspective, yes it is. But should we die for the satisfaction of someone else?
Collectivism always tends to prioritize living for others, focusing on group goals than individual actualization. If we consider the family as the most miniature unit, the mother or father in a collectivistic society is a great example of a “Canary”. From the birth of a child till the early childhood of their grandchild they are extremely committed and lose themselves while nurturing offspring.
On the other way round, the Asian perspective sees that children owe their parents forever in their life.
Sri Lanka is one of the countries with the fastest-growing aging population. Most elderly people suffer from both physical and attention-needed mental disorders, such as delirium, depression, and dementia. Hence the health care need is being increased. Hiring a caregiver or boarding parents in a well-managed elders’ home even under children’s supervision is considered a sin or a misdeed in Sri Lankan culture. So they hesitate to get assistance and dedicate the rest of their lives to caregiving for their parents even through the hardships. This is better explained as a religious norm that has been engraved into Asian skeletons.
Canaries inside the Family
Another facade of Canary is the eldest child of a family. This scenario is mostly influenced by the Socio-Economic status, and parent’s education level. Many decades ago in rural societies, the eldest child had to stop schooling for the sake of caregiving for younger siblings since their parents were away for earnings. It is evident from the life stories of our grandparents who still says, “I stayed at home to cook and look after the younger”. Even today this scenario emerges in families where the eldest female child or one and only male child has to undertake all the responsibilities of the family. Sometimes they give up their academics, careers, and even marriage for the sake of their siblings’ well-being.
Canaries in Marriage
When it comes to marriage, most women in Asian regions are vulnerable. Some of them have to accept forced marriage despite their desire to save the family’s honor. Some of them have to continue their abusive marriages to avoid social stigma to the relatives and protect “parents” for their children. Regardless of their freedom, they tolerate all the difficulties and burnouts for the betterment of others. Even after the demise of a spouse collectivistic culture accepts staying as a widow rather than stepping into a second marriage. In ancient Indian culture, women had to do a ritual called “Sathi Pooja” which was to sacrifice their lives to fire after the death of their husbands.
Canaries in Employment
This “Canary” effect isn’t limited to family, it comes to the social level. In Asian cultures, people give/ have to give priority to their professions over their personal life. Most of the time, this happens with economical insecurities and overloaded responsibilities. The underlying purpose of working too much is to secure income in the sense of protecting dependants rather than reaching higher professional goals. When it comes to female employees many of them have to take a long break or terminate employment after the delivery of the child. The female is required to step back for a while from the self-achieving process since child nurturing is entirely based on her. Unless she gets support from her family she may have to stagnate in her life. Most of the time women sacrifice their career improvement to protect their family life. Another scenario is the probability of junior-level employees being targeted for mishandling by the executive level. Labor exploitation is another angle of being Canaries, so similar to miners’ intention of using the real Canaries.
What can be the reason behind this cultural variation? Is it all bad?
I believe it is because of our religious perspective. Mainly Hinduism and Buddhism are rooted in the South Asian region. Sri Lanka, as an example, our culture is mainly stemmed from Buddhist philosophy and Hinduism. Mainly Buddhist literature weighs more on devotion, sacrifice, and commitment to others. The best example can extract from Buddhist literature (Jathaka Stories) that says how Bodhisattva sacrificed his whole life for the sake of living beings. Bodhisattva gave up his super luxurious life to find and guide all living beings toward the ultimate peace of the Enlightenment. Hence, Sri Lankans immensely follow those religious and literary teachings while largely accepting sacrifices like the Canaries.
Whatever it is beneficial, it confirms the accomplishment of individual survival needs within a group. For instance, the tightly knitted family network shares responsibilities and they undoubtedly present in need. Being like a Canary is another way of being pro-social. People in collectivistic cultures become great helpers than bystanders even costing their own life. Hence, these committed behaviors strengthen human relationships which are beginning from childhood attachments to social-level mutual connections. It also enhances empathy, compassion, kindness, and modesty.
But this doesn’t always flow smoothly. Spending a canary-like life is beneficial if the role of the “Canary” receives the same and equal treatment from others. But it weighs more on exploitation. Bridging the gap between the actual self and the ideal self is an individual responsibility. To achieve self-actualization each individual should set their goals and immensely commit to them. The space for that in a collectivist culture can be very limited due to norms and bonds associated with a “Canary’s life”
My Opinion
We have two extreme ends, either to accept burnout for others’ sake or respect ourselves by having individual focus. In my point of view, we should be wise enough to stay between those two extreme ends. As a culture that mainly stems from Buddhist philosophical teachings, we should carefully extract the core aspect of Buddhism, which is the central path not being extremist. Earlier when the resources are limited they used the Canaries as life savers. But in the modern era, there are a lot of alternatives. So taking risks, or facing burnout when there are many alternatives present, is irrational. Rational conclusions indeed threaten our emotional sense. But we should keep in mind that to confirm our existence we should change and adapt when it is needed. It is better than dying like a Canary in someone’s coal mine.
Rainbow Arts by Ama 