The ceremony of innocence is drowned…I find that America’s youth grows up far too quickly –and what is meant to be childhood — is drowned in a media deluge of mutually exclusive images, ideas and sounds – and mixed together into a schizophrenic cocktail for our youth (haven’t you noticed how we all end up medicating ourselves to stay afloat?). When my boys wanted to see R-rated movies – I thought I could get the boys to close their eyes during sex scenes and we would merely have to deal with violence and language – only to be informed that they’d seen more graphic scenes on HBO and Showtime, or, on any number of movies that were watched without adult supervision in the homes of friends (cuz when I rented movies for us – I didn’t want any T & A lying around the house for unsupervised consumption – and the times I had HBO were fleeting).
I have to admit that I took my 13-year-old to the Watchmen, and to The 300, and to Troy (gee, I guess he was 12 and 11 for these two) – and felt very uncomfortable when those sex scenes came round – I mean I couldn’t even enjoy these scenes because I felt they were too graphic for my sons. What my boys saw at 11-and-12 years of age – I don’t think I saw till I was 18 (and that was in college!). Do my concerns make any difference? Am I simply a party to Childhood’s End? I truly don’t know…I’ve been out of clinical practice for- quite-some-time-now – so I don’t really know what troubles people any more – I just know that Hollyweird, the internet and television portray awholelotta tripe with nothing at all redeeming for social promulgation – and getting us through another century, let alone another millennium. But my sons always tell me not to worry, “just chill” (do they mean the Big Chill?).
But what has meaning for folks anymore? Is it simply spending money? Is it constant sensation-seeking; like sex, or drugs, or music, or being in non-stop contact with someone via texting, twittering or cell? Does a meaningful life vary from generation-to-generation, or, is it a “constant” for human beings across time?
I recently had the opportunity to visit the ruins of Ephesus (on that Turkey trip) and was quite blown away by what folks accomplished some 2500 years ago with regards to a quality life and and a fascinating standard of living. Ephesus purportedly hosted a population of 200,000 people in its prime – and folks apparently led meaningful lives — as this town lasted (for over 1000 years) withstood a number of incursions by forces wishing to annex it. I’m thinking that ceremony and ritual were important parts of leading a meaningful life once-upon-a-time, cuz the populous of Ephesus not only lived at close quarters (there were public latrines after all) – but they shared in any number of events, whether it was the library, or the amphitheater, or their coliseum.
A ceremony is a celebration or acknowledgement of some milestone that brings people of a community together. A ritualistic ceremony is a ceremony that tends to always be performed in a specific manner (this is not to be confused with bureaucracy).
Is it too late to experience shared meaning with a community? Are there too many multiple realities out there? Am I old-fashioned and over-the-hill on this one? Will I ever again partake in a ceremony that has meaning for me?