How do I start learning about my own cultural creative traditions without feeling like an outsider?

There's often shame in this question—like you should already know, or that reconnecting is somehow inauthentic. But Murasaki Shikibu herself was navigating layers of borrowed and inherited forms, writing in Japanese at a time when Chinese was the 'serious' language. She didn't wait for permission. Start small and sensory. Listen to music from your tradition—not because you need to master it, but because your body understands things your mind doesn't yet. Cook a dish your grandmother made. Read a story. Notice what draws you, what makes you curious, what stirs something unnamed. You're not trying to become an expert or prove your belonging. You're observing—the way Murasaki observed court life, the way she noticed the exact feeling of silk against skin, the specific quality of waiting. That attentiveness *is* the practice. The knowing follows from the looking, not the other way around. Find one small thing this week—a song, a recipe, a story—and spend time with it without judgment. That's not nostalgia. That's practice.