Initiation, n. A rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a community.
Track, n. A way made by the feet of people travelling prior.
Initiation Track aims to:
- Help young people learn how to live an excellent life
- Address the decline of healthy and meaningful initiation pathways for youth in our modern society
- Communicate the past and present wisdom of humanity on the topics of virtue, eudainomia, rites of passage, happiness and generally what it means to be a good person
My motivation for Initiation Tracks comes from various personal experiences, observations and learnings. Some examples include:
- Respect for indigenous cultures and an observation that initiation and rites of passage appear to be a central part of a person’s upbringing
- An interest in philosophy and psychology, particularly factors affecting personal wellbeing
- Reflection of the advantages and disadvantages of my own upbringing
- The responsibility I feel as a parent to give my children a great foundation to live happy, productive and meaningful lives
Initiation Track is starting as a web based resource to help me (a father) give my children a holistic upbringing. Essentially it’s a checklist is to keep me honest by helping me remember and follow through with the knowledge and experiences I’d like to give my children. Yes, it’s probably a bit too earnest, maybe parenting should flow more naturally but I don’t want time to escape me. If it works perhaps it will evolve further. The resources fall into the following categories:
- Identify and develop core life skills
- Development of virtues and character strengths
- Impart wisdom
Generally I’ll pass this information on in what I’m calling “Initiation Steps” which document the following core content:
- An explanation of the topic being explored which should make it clear why the initiation step is important
- A suggested path to follow to develop the underlying virtue or skill
- Some mentors that may help the young person (these will be hidden to the public)
- Some kind of challenge of milestone to give the young person some clear goals that signify some level of development
- I’m a bit conflicted on this but I’m also, at least initially, going to offer an extrinsic reward to my own children (these will be hidden to the public).