Hey there gorgeous reader! I’m back after a frazzled few months of milestone birthdays, long distance trips and busy business type stuff.

Last time we spoke, I was telling you about Princess Natasha and her 18^th birthday celebrations. She is now a grown woman although to meet her you would dispute the fact.

Natasha Jade likes to assert her somewhat bizarro opinion about society on everyone. For example, she will suggest to shoe store owners they should have baby shoes in adult sizes (because why should babies get to wear all the cute stuff?) and she is a firm believe that people over the age of 18 should be allowed to ride on those $2 kids rides in malls. Fair enough too!

Natasha truly is an individual. Independent, warm, funny and unique and very much attuned to her own sense of self while remaining connected to her local and global communities. She’s pretty awesome.

So enough about my progeny. I wanted to chat a little about the importance of rites of passage in this day and age. I have noticed that there isn’t much to signify the end of one life cycle and the beginning of another except for birthdays and graduation ceremonies and the likes.

There is an African proverb that says: “If we do not initiate the youth, they will initiate themselves.” It’s true. Just look at the problems we have with gangs and bullying.

Aside from the bad stuff, I would hate to think that all our new adults get for their efforts is voting privileges, access to rated R movies, being able to drink alcohol and get into licensed venues. As things stand, they leave school with a piece of paper that tells future employees and educational institutes how well they did academically. But what about individual character, self-worth, life skills and other such skills that determine if they are ready, willing and able to go out into the world and function as well-adjusted adults?

Which brings me to sacred-type stuff. What happened to family and cultural handing down of stories and heirlooms? What about blessings by elders, songs, dances, costumes, processions and gifts to honor and celebrate this monumental occasion?

I’d like to see a rite of passage specifically designed for young people to affirm their strengths and individual worth. I’m not talking competitive sports and intelligence tests. I’m talking challenges of the mind and body – not against each other, but against themselves – such as a rite of passage specifically designed so that each youth may find out who they are so they know where they fit in society.

Like the Australian aborigines and their walkabouts where male Australian Aborigines would undergo a journey during adolescence and live in the wilderness for months on end. In many remote communities in Australia, Aboriginal boys still have the opportunity to undergo traditional rites of passage and initiation into manhood.

Of course there are many other cultures where rites of passage are still practised. But for us folk living in the modern world there is no kinship system, community structure, cultural exchange or initiation, let alone a means of deepening our connectedness to land and spirit.

Without getting socially and politically extreme on your rear ends here, I’m thinking that the Number One Reason to have a lawfully recognised (or at least commonly accepted) rite of passage for adult transition is to encourage individual choice and responsibility, allowing future generations to know right from wrong, grow deep moral systems and foster inner strength. Woh… heavy, right?

I guess I just think it would be great to establish a more holistic journey for our youth to become men and woman that builds on the strengths of old ways and new ways. Some kind of ritual/ceremony/procession/gathering thingie that is a necessary piece of the puzzle that makes up a person along with education and social conditioning. Something that nurtures self-expression and freedom of choice and thought and lifestyle.

So here’s to thinking up a modern rite of passage. It could well be the answer to youth violence and crime. You never know…

P.S. I’ll post the next portion of the Get Your Life On course shortly. For now, I’m off to paint my toenails red (important stuff) and go to yoga class.

Me again tapping out more words of waffling wisdom on this beautiful sunny morning sitting here in my trackies sipping green tea (like you needed to know all that)…

Anyways… I wanted to share with you something that happened the other day and that seems to happen to me quite often. What happened was a man I respect and trust told me a big fat lie. I was hanging on his every word – one pen away from taking notes – when he did it.

We were talking about the internet, a subject which he knows a fair bit about, so I take him very seriously (because I am a geek and I love the internet in a very sincere and reverential way).

I was trying to think up a name for my new website. We were deep in conversation. This man (who will remain nameless – you know who you are Stephan Stavrakis you evil, evil man) turns and says to me:

‘Well, you’d better get yourself a domain name quickly, I hear they’re running low.’

And what does yours truly reply: ‘OMG! Really?’ before going into a state of mild panic, hastily yanking the thesaurus down from the bookshelf and madly flicking through it for ideas. It was truly awful.

I know what you’re thinking: As if every single domain name in the whole world could be taken. It was obviously bollocks. My excuse is that I’m open-minded and I don’t automatically think ‘what’s the chances’ when someone tells me something, so I thought: ‘Well, there’s a lot of websites out there…’

No blonde hairs on this head but I will admit to having a long-term case of gullibilitis (meaning I am extremely gullible) of which there is no cure. I will believe anything. Just ask my friends and family. Believe me, they take full advantage of it by telling me whopping great fibs all the time. They’re not very nice people.

It’s not all bad though. The great thing about having gullibilitis is that I totally enjoy stories. I don’t need a lot of convincing that dragons talk and children rule worlds. The bad thing is that people with not so great intentions try and take advantage of me. But never fear; I have a weapon against evil and it’s called the Intuitor.

The Intuitor is a bit like a lightsaber except it’s got more sparkles and makes a ‘weeeeee!’ sound when I swish it in figure eights, which is the best way to ward off malice. So fortunately I’m protected.

The Intuitor works by sensing bullshit through a high-tech gadget thingie in the handle and sending a signal to my brain under the disguise of a very faint sixth sense that tells me something isn’t quite right.

It’s hit and miss and it only usually works on villains (rarely on people I trust – which is a bummer). I think the inventor ran out of money before it was fully developed. Either that or I should pull out the instruction manual and see if there’s a button I should be pushing.

So I’m wondering if it’s just me that suffers from gullibilitis. Seriously, do you believe the crap your so-called loved ones tell you because you love and trust them? Do you have an Intuitor to ward off villains? If you do, maybe we can start a support group together.

Hey, we could meet once a month and have a newsletter! We could even get a website. But we’d better hurry. Apparently there’s a shortage of domain names, or so I hear… Speaking of which, I’d better go grab one before they’re gone. Catcha!

Tracey

P.S. Oh, by the way, I was going to talk about trust, but I waffled on a bit instead (did you notice?) Sorry about that. So stay tuned for a d&m about Joe, Jane and a deity you may or may not have heard of called God.

P.P.S. Hey, can you tweet this for me so I know the button works? You know what I’m like with this left-brain stuff. Think of it as a favour to me for providing you with all these highly use(less)ful blog posts out of the kindness of my heart because I am truly awesome and kindness oozes out of my every pore and you love me so much… Geez,I waffle on about crap, don’t I?

Stay happy, beautiful reader!