)(( hannah mello ))(

Bruce Hornsby & Life Stage thoughts...

This past Saturday night a windy, bendy road took my aunt & me to a place of unparalleled beauty. The Mountain Winery in Saratoga. It's located on the crest of a mountain with San Francisco to Gilroy in view. (When we left later that night, the lights below were golden & the full moon above was low ... also golden, golden and swollen with light. ahhhh! So amazing.) We sat on bleacher seats in the back of the ampitheater listening to Bruce Hornsby & his new band The Noisemakers. (He's the guy who wrote "The Way it Is" & "Madeline Rain"...)
Right when the concert began, I found myself saturated in a three-dimensional experience of something I've been contemplating for a long time now.

I remember certain sessions of my psychology, spirituality, anthropology, and sociology classes in college when the topic of "life stages" was developed & discussed. I remember those illluminating first discussions on the topic when I learned about the beauty of the process of holistic human growth & development (intellect, emotional intelligence, spirituality, morality, social skill...)-- and how every decade or phase of life has its own sensibilities, capabilities, necessities, and opportunities. I AM FASCINATED with the process of development & how we have different realms of experience that are developed simultaneously & yet at completely different rates. We are creatures of context and our development is wholly dependant upon our awareness/affectation. Amazing!!

Ok. Back to the Mountain Winery story. :) Bruce Hornsby came on to the stage grey-haired & smiley. He started jamming on the piano & I became aware of some interaction he was having with his band. His band consisted of three middle aged, mellow, folk-y guys (a wind instrumentalist, a mandolin/lead guitarist, and a keyboard player ...cheater! :)...) and a black bass player & a black drummer-- who were both in their early twenties and were boppin' to the beats & markedly lively. When Bruce busted out with a vocal run that sounded a little more modern and edgy-- an R&B flow, he met eyes with the bass player who then gave a giant grin and danced a little more energetically. When Bruce started to fall into his musical rut of similar sounding ballad-y, 80's, peppy piano, the drummer would catch his eye and then punch in with some funky beats-- twirling his drum sticks & breakin' it down. :) I saw a dynamic happening... an unmistakable intersection of life stages. The fifty year old man had intersected with the twenty year old men and fireworks of change happened. The music became alive, fresh, new, colorful, vibrant.


When I was in the UK last October, I visited the Natural History Museum. I ended up taking (literally) 100 photographs of the displays. I was overwhelmed with the profundity of the information & its presentation. The human life section of the museum affected me the most (the geography section came in a close, close second). It began with the process of life in the womb & progressed to illustrate the complexity of our holistic growth & development as humans. One section stood out in my memory. There were giant posters that gave samples of art from different ages of children. Below the posters were explanations about why the children expressed the way they did-- based on scientifically verified information about brain development & communication skills. Here is a sign from another part of that room in the museum:


As I trekked through the exhibit, I LOVED thinking about the unique contribution an individual in one life stage can make in a person's life who's in a different stage. We have great potential to influence each other. The question is-- do we ALLOW people to influence us? Do we intentionally VALUE the influence we can have on others?

I read a few books on the topic of life stage a while ago-- one of which was definitely edgy in its thesis. "Stages of Faith" by Fowler. He addresses specifically the realm of human spirituality and proposes that different ages/stages of life have distinct sensibilities that build on each other, yes, but define that time period of development. Erik Erikson's Stages of Human development also bring up some fascinating nuances to consider. In an Adulthood & Aging class, and was deeply impacted by the themes that are progressively introduced in the later decades of life.

I have heard much talk about the value of human life. I have heard much talk about the beauty of multi-generational community-- and the benefit of sharing life together. However, those statements are seldom accompanied by the reasoning... the why, the how, the when. I talked with a spiritual leader from another state at a beachside coffeeshop a few months ago about this very thing. He was excited about the idea of fostering multi-generational faith community-- and I shared the observation that with the vision & dream, it's super important to articulate the specifics of WHY and HOW it can impact individual lives as well as the culture of the whole. In order for people to be themselves & to let others be themselves, we must be aware of the nuances of identity & development.

I really care about this discussion.

I really care that we start valuing each other as people & really learning from each other.

I really want to be someone that embraces what every life stage uniquely offers.

Maybe that's why I'm making a major life leap in two weeks... maybe it's directly linked to Bruce Hornsby & Life Stage thoughts... :) !! :) No ... :) NOT directly. Loosely. Loosely. It's ironic though. I have been thinking about this a TON in the last four months.

posted by )(( hannah mello ))( @ 2:31 PM