World Anxiety, Through 18-yr-old & Elder Eyes
A conversation between Charles Eisenstein & his son, Philip
What if we could more fully acknowledge the anxiety and longing from our parent’s generation? And they could affirm our current anxiety and longing?
If you don't know Charles Eisenstein, let this be an introduction.
When I listen to this conversation between Charles and his 18 year-old son, Philip, I listen both as a father and as a son.
The 18 year-old in me perks up and tunes into another way of being addressed by a father. Both intellectual and deeply respectful. Both hopeful and realistic—what I need to hear from a mature male voice right now. Feeling my anxiety held. Feeling called to something deeper.
The father I am today takes some time to attune to both Charles’ and Philip’s perspective and way of being. To be open and curious about what resonates in me. What elder energy gets sparked? What from my youth is reborn?
How might I embody the elder rather than the elderly for my children?
In the video (linked below), his 18-year-old son, Philip, asks the question:
“I've come to feel a certain anxiety about my future… I’m curious if you had similar anxieties and worries when you were younger, and if you could say something to your past self, what would you say now, knowing what you know?”
For me, the conversation highlights from father and son include:
Charles: “Despair is not just intellectual… In ancient Norse times, young people would go through a Time of the Ashes, where they would just basically cover themselves in ashes in the longhouse and not even get out of bed, grappling with this existential despair. But there's something on the other side of it.”
Philip: “I remember all of the students were asking, Why do our grades matter? Why should we care about this so much? We're spending so many hours a day here doing what? And the teachers were basically like, “Well, your grades matter because it'll go into your transcript, which will go into your college application. And then that'll determine whether or not you can get a good job in the future. So you should really care about this.” But they didn't really care. Almost nobody in my class — a small class, 40 or 50 people — almost nobody cared, really. It was a performance and they knew that. And they were looking for something to care about — something to really devote themselves to.”
Charles: “It drives you crazy to have a valid intuition that is not affirmed or reinforced by the environment that you're in. Especially school. These are supposed to be your mentors and your guides, wise adults who you put yourself in their hands for hours a day and they are supposed to be teaching you how to be human. And if they deny this absolutely core part of the human being, then it's really confusing… the underlying assumption is you don't really want to be doing this (school work). You're only doing this because of a grade, because if you don't get a good grade, your life is gonna suck. And you're not going to get my approval, the approval of these adult authority figures. So you lose yourself then.”
Charles: “They say our only power to change lies in our ability to exercise a force on the world, which is a kind of scientific thinking, Newtonian thinking… despair narratives contradict that valid, authentic recognition of what's important and how to live… maybe they plant a garden and share the food with their neighbors. Or maybe they do like one little piece that is of a more beautiful world and spread that idea and normalize that and sow that seed in the collective.”
Charles: “If I could speak to myself at 18 — I would affirm by saying, “Your secret suspicion that you are here for something magnificent is true.” That you are here to contribute to the unfolding of the magnificence of creation, to contribute to more life and more beauty in the world. And when I say magnificent, it doesn't necessarily mean famous or successful in the outward sense, but something magnificent to you, something that makes you say, Yeah, this is what I'm here to do.”
Philip: “I would tell the 56 year old version of me not to forget… how rich and full of meaning and wonder everything is, and not to forget that it's all available to me to constantly drink in and feel and experience.”
Philip: “I'm writing… an essay for my college application (on)… the idea that people embody some kind of moral value that determines how you should treat them. And kind of how that's used as a rationalization or justification for things in the world. And how does that come to exist? Because that's totally a human construction. You can't look at somebody's molecules or atoms or whatever and figure out whether or not they deserve to starve, or if they have eaten while others have starved, or if they have been generous, you know. It's just such an interesting and pervasive assumption…. I feel like everybody deserves everything and nothing. You know, everybody has eaten while another starved, but also everybody has been denied the treasure of kings, right? You can say that anybody deserves the highest praise or reward and also the worst punishment.”
Charles: “Do you think you've inherited any of my hang up around, you know, not allowing myself good things because I don't deserve it? I tried not to pass it on to you, but you know, these things come out unconsciously.”
Philip: “Yeah, I think I did when I was younger. Sometimes I would want to have candy, but then I was like, oh, I shouldn't have candy, I should do something first so that I can have the candy, like I should put away some dishes or whatever. And I'd always feel like I have to ask if it's okay for me to have a sweet. I’d have to make sure that it's okay and that I'm not being bad for it. And I think I kept that attitude a little bit. But then I began to shed it.”
Charles: “Our starting point about nihilism, which is the denial of purpose, and which also flattens desire, is significant. It would make sense — if part of the mission of your generation is to reclaim purpose and desire — that the condition from which that reclamation comes would be the denial of purpose and desire. Kind of all fits together.”
Thank you,
PS: Once you have listened (or taken in this summary), please comment on something you would like to remain connected to from the video…