By Patti Kwok
Suddenly there is a slight burst in my hope that a social embrace of death might possibly precede physical death; a revelation that despite aging and dying, I still have a place in this world. When hope dies, so does life.
A wilderness rite of passage doesn’t begin when a participant arrives at the trailhead or end the moment they return home.
The weeks and months surrounding a rite of passage can be just as juicy as time spent in the wilderness. The experience itself plants a seed: a taste of independence, a new sense of wonder at nature, a question about identity, or a glimpse of who we might become. But what happens next is what allows that seed to burst into glorious bloom.
That’s why, at Rite of Passage Journeys, we see autumn as an essential season in the spiraling path of a rite of passage. When the energy and vitality of summer abate, we enter a season that invites us to cool off, slow down, and marvel at the changing colors of the landscape – both out in the world and deep inside.
By Stan Crow, 1939 - 2009, Director Emeritus, Rite of Passage Journeys
In a recent seminar, someone said, "You have said, several times that a good mentor challenges the mentee to meet various goals, do their best, etc. That sounds combative to me, is that what you mean?"
I had to admit it could sound that way, and, I guess at times it could even look that way, but it certainly isn't my stance.
