It doesn’t matter whether we are rich or poor, young or old, black or white, or yellow or red or brown – it is not hard for us to sense that there is an up and a down to our human condition. This up and down is felt as a baby first tries to stand up, but falls down.
We are all wired to sense that up is the direction of choice. However, rappers, television and movie-makers, manufacturers of sagging pants, violent video gaming all exploit youth’s tendency to want something new and different from their parents.
Our Youth on the Upswing campaign works to help young people recognize that there is an up and a down to life, and that we are indeed meant to have ideals that move us and our community upwardly. We are putting together a Health Class segment that speaks to young people’s needs.
What’s involved?
- 1. “Ropes course” outings for young people to leave the city for an adventurous place – where Nature and their human spirit is more alive. Nature is meant to give young people experiences that shape their lives.
- 2. The development of a health class segment for a variety of school grades that presents the Ancients’ way of understanding Nature – built upon four principles, which must be in balance. As young people better recognize these principles and balance them in their own lives, they move upwardly. Foods eaten, words chosen to be said, how we wear our pants, how we posture ourselves: these all manifest how we uniquely balance these principles in our life.
- 3. Music, art, writing and other contests (such as the Laws of Life contests) will facilitate young people to create in some artful way their story of a balance. Beauty and art come as we balance the various principles of life/the human condition in positive, even heart-building ways.
