I participated in AmeriCorps three times: each stint was seasonal, so this was less than one year, spread across my young adulthood. Each season was rewarding, frustrating, heartbreaking.
Each crew was a jumble of America. College students, delivery drivers, kids figuring out their gender, influencers, kids who loudly complained about influencers and then were very embarrassed when it turned out a crewmate was an influencer.
Each season was difficult. The work was hard. On my first crew, we camped out 9 days of every 14; when lightning struck, we rushed down the mountain until we were less elevated, less exposed, and squatted on the ground, counting on the rubber of our boots protect us. We brushed up against the old rotting bureaucracy that kept our wild spaces halfway accessible and protected. Miles and miles of land often seemed to depend on... just some guy, not always a nice guy, with the resource equivalent of used chewing gum stuck behind his ear. I went back to the first trail I worked on recently. It was just as overgrown as when we started -- a really tough hike. Only the step I sledgehammered into rock had stuck.
America would be a stronger place if every young person joined a service crew. Not just because it's a rite of passage, but because it's exposure to systems that are struggling. I know I will advocate for more resources for our public lands for the rest of my life.
I'm 100% with you on the need for national meaningful rites of passage, and I think we need to look more deeply at what adult is and isn't.
In 2009, I wrote a paper on this and discovered there isn't any agreement between disciplines on what adulthood is. The most comprehensive, research-based definitions draw from adult development theory, suggesting an adult is biologically mature (over 30 years old, where the neocortex, the part required for self-reflection, self-awareness, abstract and moral reasoning), has completed purpose and parts work (integrating soul and ego parts), has developed a purpose-driven career, and is enmeshed in soulful community. Unfortunately, few among us meet this bar and would thus be unqualified to help others cross the threshold into adulthood.
So if we're looking at a rite of passage for a highschool grad, its probably something more like moving from the garden to the marketplace, something akin to Bill Plotkin's Soul-Centric Wheel of Development, wherein it is about healthy, eco/soul psychological development. I'd be happy to connect and brainstorm a bit. I've been thinking alot about secular rites of passage and would be happy to collaborate.
I participated in AmeriCorps three times: each stint was seasonal, so this was less than one year, spread across my young adulthood. Each season was rewarding, frustrating, heartbreaking.
Each crew was a jumble of America. College students, delivery drivers, kids figuring out their gender, influencers, kids who loudly complained about influencers and then were very embarrassed when it turned out a crewmate was an influencer.
Each season was difficult. The work was hard. On my first crew, we camped out 9 days of every 14; when lightning struck, we rushed down the mountain until we were less elevated, less exposed, and squatted on the ground, counting on the rubber of our boots protect us. We brushed up against the old rotting bureaucracy that kept our wild spaces halfway accessible and protected. Miles and miles of land often seemed to depend on... just some guy, not always a nice guy, with the resource equivalent of used chewing gum stuck behind his ear. I went back to the first trail I worked on recently. It was just as overgrown as when we started -- a really tough hike. Only the step I sledgehammered into rock had stuck.
America would be a stronger place if every young person joined a service crew. Not just because it's a rite of passage, but because it's exposure to systems that are struggling. I know I will advocate for more resources for our public lands for the rest of my life.
Appreciate how you are looking beyond the problem at possible solutions and this seems like a fantastic one. Would love to see this happen!!
I'm 100% with you on the need for national meaningful rites of passage, and I think we need to look more deeply at what adult is and isn't.
In 2009, I wrote a paper on this and discovered there isn't any agreement between disciplines on what adulthood is. The most comprehensive, research-based definitions draw from adult development theory, suggesting an adult is biologically mature (over 30 years old, where the neocortex, the part required for self-reflection, self-awareness, abstract and moral reasoning), has completed purpose and parts work (integrating soul and ego parts), has developed a purpose-driven career, and is enmeshed in soulful community. Unfortunately, few among us meet this bar and would thus be unqualified to help others cross the threshold into adulthood.
So if we're looking at a rite of passage for a highschool grad, its probably something more like moving from the garden to the marketplace, something akin to Bill Plotkin's Soul-Centric Wheel of Development, wherein it is about healthy, eco/soul psychological development. I'd be happy to connect and brainstorm a bit. I've been thinking alot about secular rites of passage and would be happy to collaborate.