Community and Individuality
The task of the child in their early development, is to establish a trusting relationship with their own body and needs: self-esteem rooted in being on the Earth in their community. Our neurobiology is set so that our childhood experience of earth and community in our family largely determines how we live our relationships and social groups throughout our lives.
Anchored in these roots our adolescent is able to break free of the Family, to explore personal identities in the environment, in groups, in social and love relationships. This is about breaking free and defining our individuality. But again, this is dependent upon healthy roots in the family, community and ancestors.
As adults, we all have our personal ‘Altered State of Consciousness’, neurologically fixed in childhood by the norms, values, habits and language used in our family and community.
In adolescence we struggle to define ourselves and find our place and direction in life. The adolescent tries different communities and groups in this growing exploration. To truly break free we have to go back and understand, love and accept this social, spiritual and neurological heritage from our family and culture. This will give us the strength to assume our personal path to freedom and adulthood.
The child's awareness is essentially physical and immediate, where the adolescent has more capacity to, delay satisfaction, to contrast, evaluate the past and plan. The adolescent sees others who might seem happier or freer and wants some of that. So the adolescent will want some freedom to question and break away from the parents and culture, and some freedom to make mistakes in learning. With sufficient ego strength and self esteem the adolescent can go out and explore community in different groups, identities and structures, learning to communicate in ever more complex social structures.
The Inner Adolescent
The adolescent defines the self in relation to the rules of the family, peers, community, working groups, leisure, study, politics, religion, music, sport ... This is constructed on top of the basic foundations of the personal neurotic structure learned in the early years. Our vision, tools and strategies can never be objective. The family is our first model of community and relationships, from where we derive strategies and tools to meet our needs through cooperation.
The adolescent will want to take some responsibility in deciding what groups and directions (branches) to take in life … within the guidance of parents and the local culture. Adolescents tend to focus on the groups, techniques, science, methods, guidelines, 'steps to freedom, individuation and independence', the manifesto, the religious norms, …. all of these amazing things that might seem to liberate them from their childhood limitations. These are all important for the adolescent, they are ways of learning skills to manage their human needs in the wider world.
This adolescent part of you will fight for freedom to explore these different beliefs, identities, groups, 'ways of life', ways of developing the skills to be independent in life. The adolescent can blame their parents, school, the government, corporations, or anyone for their sense of lack of freedom. Your Inner Adolescent makes revolution, explores their subjective individuality, joins new groups, finds new rules and philosophies, explores new politics and religions, finds arts and culture which help to understand and express themselves. In all this excitement the adolescent believes to have found the truth, real freedom. This is great … a real buzz … like falling in love. Then we have to live with these new truths and rules and flatmates and politics. The adolescent does not notice that they learn these things within a much wider moment and context. Whilst their perspective is wider than the child, it is still quite limited and determined by their early environment.
As adults trapped in our adolescence we get attached to the techniques, guidelines and rules of our chosen groups. We will look for diets, new spiritual rules, the political party with the right proposals, new therapies with their steps to health and well being. When it does not seem to work then we either look for a new group or set of rules, change the government, a new religion. Or we look for a new self-help programme with its books and courses. When these do not work then we will desperately try to apply the rules ever more strictly, creating great suffering, oppressing ourselves or others in this process.
The Heroes Journey – rites of passage
With youthful vigour and the support of parents, mentors and the community the adolescent makes their journey into the world. This requires choice and dedication, rites of passage to fully leave childhood, to win their place in society, to work and make relationships:
There will be more rites of passage as this adolescent, with growing consciousness, becomes more aware of their needs and dissatisfaction in their chosen groups. These will be rites of passage towards adulthood and finally taking full responsibility for your own life. This is the Heroes Journey.
Anchored in these roots our adolescent is able to break free of the Family, to explore personal identities in the environment, in groups, in social and love relationships. This is about breaking free and defining our individuality. But again, this is dependent upon healthy roots in the family, community and ancestors.
As adults, we all have our personal ‘Altered State of Consciousness’, neurologically fixed in childhood by the norms, values, habits and language used in our family and community.
In adolescence we struggle to define ourselves and find our place and direction in life. The adolescent tries different communities and groups in this growing exploration. To truly break free we have to go back and understand, love and accept this social, spiritual and neurological heritage from our family and culture. This will give us the strength to assume our personal path to freedom and adulthood.
The child's awareness is essentially physical and immediate, where the adolescent has more capacity to, delay satisfaction, to contrast, evaluate the past and plan. The adolescent sees others who might seem happier or freer and wants some of that. So the adolescent will want some freedom to question and break away from the parents and culture, and some freedom to make mistakes in learning. With sufficient ego strength and self esteem the adolescent can go out and explore community in different groups, identities and structures, learning to communicate in ever more complex social structures.
The Inner Adolescent
The adolescent defines the self in relation to the rules of the family, peers, community, working groups, leisure, study, politics, religion, music, sport ... This is constructed on top of the basic foundations of the personal neurotic structure learned in the early years. Our vision, tools and strategies can never be objective. The family is our first model of community and relationships, from where we derive strategies and tools to meet our needs through cooperation.
The adolescent will want to take some responsibility in deciding what groups and directions (branches) to take in life … within the guidance of parents and the local culture. Adolescents tend to focus on the groups, techniques, science, methods, guidelines, 'steps to freedom, individuation and independence', the manifesto, the religious norms, …. all of these amazing things that might seem to liberate them from their childhood limitations. These are all important for the adolescent, they are ways of learning skills to manage their human needs in the wider world.
This adolescent part of you will fight for freedom to explore these different beliefs, identities, groups, 'ways of life', ways of developing the skills to be independent in life. The adolescent can blame their parents, school, the government, corporations, or anyone for their sense of lack of freedom. Your Inner Adolescent makes revolution, explores their subjective individuality, joins new groups, finds new rules and philosophies, explores new politics and religions, finds arts and culture which help to understand and express themselves. In all this excitement the adolescent believes to have found the truth, real freedom. This is great … a real buzz … like falling in love. Then we have to live with these new truths and rules and flatmates and politics. The adolescent does not notice that they learn these things within a much wider moment and context. Whilst their perspective is wider than the child, it is still quite limited and determined by their early environment.
As adults trapped in our adolescence we get attached to the techniques, guidelines and rules of our chosen groups. We will look for diets, new spiritual rules, the political party with the right proposals, new therapies with their steps to health and well being. When it does not seem to work then we either look for a new group or set of rules, change the government, a new religion. Or we look for a new self-help programme with its books and courses. When these do not work then we will desperately try to apply the rules ever more strictly, creating great suffering, oppressing ourselves or others in this process.
The Heroes Journey – rites of passage
With youthful vigour and the support of parents, mentors and the community the adolescent makes their journey into the world. This requires choice and dedication, rites of passage to fully leave childhood, to win their place in society, to work and make relationships:
- Training, specialisation and work, finding your vocation, … whatever branches and twigs that interest you – The adolescent believes they have found the truth, dependent on the norms and techniques of these: groups, science, politics, religion, definition of gender, therapies or shamanisms – so must dedicate time to fully learn and apply these in life.
- Defining your gender and sexuality – testing this in non-committal and then serious love relationships
There will be more rites of passage as this adolescent, with growing consciousness, becomes more aware of their needs and dissatisfaction in their chosen groups. These will be rites of passage towards adulthood and finally taking full responsibility for your own life. This is the Heroes Journey.