Ah, Mariya—love this sincere question. To be honest, we have not spent a lot of time talking with people your age on this trip. Luckily, we have a vast store of connections with 20-somethings from home and extended community. I will give part 1 of my response, and hope that this becomes an ongoing conversation.
I looked up the meanings for naiveté. Ingenuousness; innocence; gullibility; greenness; rawness; inexperience. But also: honesty; candor; frankness, openness.
So, the quality of being naïve is actually the quality of being youthful and inexperienced. Being white, educated and from a reasonable foundation gives you that privilege. My guess is that there is a time when you are given a choice to lose your naiveté. And that happens at different times for different people. If you have it hard, then you might lose it when you are 4. We live in a dreamtime now. Soldiers go to wars that don’t touch most of us. Climate change attacks the poorest countries first and so it seems far away and esoteric. You live in a time when your own reproductive rights and school systems are being eaten away by fundamentalists. When the time comes, you will have to choose whether or not to lose the naiveté and stand up for something. Hard changes are coming. You will want to be at the table. Protest gets us to the table.
A smattering of 20-somethings are how they are doing:
T-running her own hair salon and serving in a restaurant.
N-tending bar; raising her kids, being with parents and grandparents.
L- designing her own clothes
M-Just finished 2nd book-writing a 3rd about whales; working part-time at Luxel.
C-kayak guide.
A-working with the Center for the Ecological History of the Salish Sea.
B-Teaching part-time and devoted to not having a car.
R-building a cob house; has own band; works as farmhand and laborer.
T-Into urban farming; works at store, dumpster dives as political statement, just started doing art for money.
J- farming on Orcas and serving in a restaurant.
C- started coffee and tea business, announcer for Alaskan NPR, tends bar.
A bunch are in grad school. Another bunch have started families. Another group has gone traveling. And some are into social change such as Teach for America. Another group are into farming- alternative and small scale agriculture.
It strikes me that the 20s I know are exceptional, everyone. I think that’s because of the island and because we have always sought community. So these 20-somethings know and value community. I see them hugging roots harder.
I think dreams need to be something bigger than ourselves to make being human worthwhile. But the seeds for dreams are everywhere.
talking with a threesome (two from France and one a Quebecois) last night at our hostel stop along the Gaspesie Peninsula. The French couple indicated that having an advanced degree did not seem to work for them or their friends and they would be making as much income without the debt and effort of the degrees---also alot of 20 somethings were living with their parents. The Canadian is working at jobs for not much money, despite her advanced training, but is enjoying herself and finding challenges and excitement and travel--shes training now to work for Club Med--$750/month plus room and board and travel stipends to some pretty wonderful destinations--I recall alot of times on the 'road' myself when I was in my 20's and living on a shoe string and my witt----seems its still all possible! Bon chose!!
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I still desire the open road. So much so, that reading your post Papa, I stopped and thought “Club Med....that could be sweet.” I still imagine myself on International flights, crossing borders, watching unfamiliar horizons, smelling new air. That was a big part of my motivation for leaving the travel company. I need more flexibility in my life. The need feels immediate. Our time together in Tanzania (rather ironically) reinforced this desire for me.
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