The Flux in Early Adulthood
I have been reading this book “The Stage of a Man’s Life” by Daniel Levinson which has been pretty insightful on the flux. His research is in the tradition of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Eric Erickson (particularly Identity and the Life Cycle). He breaks the man’s life into several stages Early Adulthood, Middle Adulthood and Lat Adulthood. Of course we all are within the Early Adulthood stage, which is comprised of the Early Adult Transition, Entering the Adult World, Age 30 Transition, and Settling Down. I would venture to suggest that most of us are within the Entering Adult World (22-28 by his estimates), although some may be finishing off the Early Adult Transition. The purpose of the Early Adult Transition is to move out of the pre-adult world: to question the nature of that world and ones place in it; to modify or terminate existing relationships with important persons, groups and institutions; to reappraise and modify the self that formed within the pre-adult world. The second part of this transition is to make a preliminary step into the adult world: to explore its possibilities, to imagine oneself as a participant in it, to consolidate an initial adult identity, to make and test some preliminary choices for adult living. After this transition a man moves into the next stage Entering the Adult World.
The chief task of the Entering the Adult World is to fashion a provisional structure that provides workable link between the valued self and the adult society. During this stage a man tests a variety of initial choices regarding occupation, love relationships, peer relationships, values, and life style. The are two primary tasks a) He needs to explore the possibilities for adult living: to keep his options open, avoid strong commitments and maximize alternatives. This is reflected in a sense of adventure and wonderment, a wish to seek out all the treasure of the world. The contrasting task b) is to create a stable live structure: become more responsible and “make something of my life.”
Of course the balance is what is most important. If the first dominates then the man’s life can be extremely transient, of rootless quality, and hedonistic. If the second predominates, there is a danger of committing oneself prematurely to a structure, without sufficient exploration of alternatives. Levinson actually terms the dominance of the first task as being characterized by ‘flux.’
I think after about 2 months of journaling every day and thinking about these type of things I have a better idea where I am along this path, and the balance that I need to create and readjustments I need to make to ensure that I am accomplishing what is necessary to create a foundation for the next stage. Well actually the next transition the Early Thirties Transition. I hope all of you give yourself to the time to think about some of these things so that this stage of your life is as rewarding and fulfilling as our pre-adult college world.
Enjoy it all.
The chief task of the Entering the Adult World is to fashion a provisional structure that provides workable link between the valued self and the adult society. During this stage a man tests a variety of initial choices regarding occupation, love relationships, peer relationships, values, and life style. The are two primary tasks a) He needs to explore the possibilities for adult living: to keep his options open, avoid strong commitments and maximize alternatives. This is reflected in a sense of adventure and wonderment, a wish to seek out all the treasure of the world. The contrasting task b) is to create a stable live structure: become more responsible and “make something of my life.”
Of course the balance is what is most important. If the first dominates then the man’s life can be extremely transient, of rootless quality, and hedonistic. If the second predominates, there is a danger of committing oneself prematurely to a structure, without sufficient exploration of alternatives. Levinson actually terms the dominance of the first task as being characterized by ‘flux.’
I think after about 2 months of journaling every day and thinking about these type of things I have a better idea where I am along this path, and the balance that I need to create and readjustments I need to make to ensure that I am accomplishing what is necessary to create a foundation for the next stage. Well actually the next transition the Early Thirties Transition. I hope all of you give yourself to the time to think about some of these things so that this stage of your life is as rewarding and fulfilling as our pre-adult college world.
Enjoy it all.
posted by Johnny T at
11:09 AM
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