Like the seasons, the four phases of life blend one into the other, guided by a rhythm that allows variation. Where a season’s length is determined by the time from solstice to equinox, the length of each lifecycle phase is determined by the span of time between birth and the coming of age into young adulthood.
In American society, the ritual acknowledgment today occurs at 21, the age of college graduation and initial career launch. Afterwards, a person is deemed to be an autonomous adult. The length of life’s first phase fixes the length of the other life phases as well. Once one batch of children has fully come of age, it and it alone comprises the society’s young adults, casting its next-elders into a midlife social role. This now happens when the latter reach age 42, the minimum age U.S. history (though not the Constitution) has declared acceptable for a President. And, in turn, the group entering midlife pushes another into an elder role, now starting around age 63, today’s median age for receiving one’s first old-age benefit check from the government. ~ Source
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
| 
|
| 
1 comment:
interesting.... have found myself between another two of life stages recently.... the just graduated, on my own, take on the world , in the now phase...
and the have kid(s), more grounded, pragmatic, future thinking phase...
the battle between the two isn't easy...
Post a Comment