What is it!?

I am fascinated with the spontaneous eruption of what I have come to call the Happy Dance, people caught up in little tiny moments of profound joy, excitement and celebration. The scope of my project is to directly observe when and how this occurs in people, and what the variations are across cultures, heritage, and social-economic lines.

While there are undoubtedly many writings on the subject of rites of Passage, and ceremony from Jungian philosophy to the ideas of Joseph Campbell and as a classmate suggested even Robert Bly, my project is based on the instances I can directly observe in the world around me, and or interview real people about, to remove the results from the realm of theory and have it be applicable to the real world.

How will I do this? I will live my life and observe my own and my friends reactions to everyday circumstances and events from the mundane to the profound. From the moment to moment events in our lives: a new dishwasher, a new apartment, a new love, to the holidays that mark the passage of time and seasons, and how we as a people and culture react and choose to participate in the observance of these celebrations or not.

I will theorize and pontificate on the the significance of a daily latte, and the irrelevance of post, post modern-commericalism. I will tie it all together with ideas to expand the scope of my project into the next quarter and hopefully the next significant step to the research and travel for direct observation and experiential learning of the Happy Dance itself.


Lack of ceremony in the form of rites of passage for average American culture can point to such extremes as the total downfall of society and values as proposed in Stanley Kubricks “ A Clockwork Orange”. While some of the upper echelons of society may have debutant balls as a public coming of age acknowledgment for their young women, but this sort of over the top presentation to society is hardly the normal circumstance for much of our society. While Jewish culture has Barmitzvah, Batmitzvah, for young men and women respectively, and Latin Americans have a Quincertanos celebration for a young woman's 15th birthday celebration, - which is often as elaborate and expensive to the family as a wedding, there seem to be fewer such rites of passage for men, which perhaps leads to the allure of gangs.

All this food for thought brings me to a personal realization that while I have had the fortune to be raised with an unusual exposure to Native American culture, I spent many summers growing up with the Chiloquin tribe on their sacred ceremonial land, and participated in special ceremonys each summer, I have not always had the time, energy, knowledge or resources to provide my own daughter with the Rites of Passage for her own life and development that I think are so tragically lacking from our own culture.

As a Thanksgiving baby we have always acknowledged my daughters Birthday with an extra big celebration of that uniquely American holiday, and a side party just for her. But how does that translate to a Rite of Passage? At 13 I taught her to walk in the dream world, to remember and practice controlling her dreams. This is a skill that has served her well and far surpasses my own abilities. At other ages I made special acknowledgment of her growth and development as well, but something still seems lacking. Even her graduation from high school last year, while recognized by our society as an important rite, seems lacking in some basic elements of personalization to give it the significance to the individual it proposes to be.




As a project for this class I want to construct an acknowledgment of my daughters coming of age. I am going to visit her for her birthday. She is 19 and a freshman at the U of O. Lets see what I can come up with. Ideas run rampant through my imagination. A sense of ceremony is surely in order, as well as Celebration, and some kind of symbolism. A task or accomplishment would be good and perhaps a significant alteration, endowment or marking. A tattoo comes to mind, simply because she wants one, and it is an art I studied at one time and was taught to do. My own first tattoo was a rite of passage I sought for myself, and the few pieces of art I have on my body are all very significant and meaningful. After working in the Body art industry for nearly a decade, I have unique opinions and talents in that arena, but my desire for this project and my interest in rites of passage far surpasses that. Body art was simply one step on that larger journey and exploration of this entire subject. I want to create something that breaks through the shell of apathy and existentialism, into a place that fosters fulfillment and passion, and excitement at being alive, excitement and anticipation for the journey ahead. For myself, for others, for my adult child, for society.