ABSTRACT
A sense of wellbeing is fundamentally linked the person’s sense of identity within time and place, historically and culturally. It is an act of self-identification which needs to be an authentic interpretation of the relationship between the existence of the individual and a world that makes sense. This relationship may exist in a myriad of ways due to the number of different social orders and practices in historically, spatially and socially determined circumstances (Freidman 1992). Fuchs (2013) also recognises the importance of these from a phenomenological philosophical perspective. He identifies three features of temporality: implicit subjective temporality (the individual unconsciously aware of time), explicit subjective temporality (the individual consciously aware of time) and intersubjective temporality (a shared sense of time).
Malpas and Tilley, phenomenological archaeologists, use their senses to engage with places as they move around landscapes which assist with investigation into social and cultural meaning that might be associated with it. Tilley highlights that whilst traditional archaeologists focus on and describe the physical world, it is still experienced by the person on a sensory and emotional level. The place and its history are intertwined with humans; it is a two-way relationship: people influence the place and the place influences the person within time.
Culture impacts on the way the person perceives the world, their worldview; it is the outward expression of shared meaning which occurs at a particular time and place. Cultures can be now be mega experienced at global level or macro at a country or societal level, or even micro (subculture) level such as a racial or religious group. They all have underpinning ideologies which can also affect the person’s sense of themselves and their ability to experience wellbeing.
The rich tapestry of life can only be appreciated by embodied interaction with the world and each other including a recognition that experiences occur in time and space. The culture, which is time, place and ideology bound, lived in can dramatically influence how and if a person experiences a sense of wellbeing.
