RESOURCES

“But all too many adolescents in all too many cultures never passed through Chaos at all. They were born, they were acculturated, they were schooled, they took up their adult stations in life, passed through an ill-defined period of mid-life angst, resigned themselves to old age, and died, without ever walking the Yellow Brick Road, indeed without ever understanding what it was that they had missed in their lives.”        

~ Normal Spinrad, Child of Fortune

Since the it’s inception the School of Lost Borders, and the work of founders Meredith Little Foster and Steven Foster, has harkened to the call of the youth, the call of despair and cry for survival of those awakening to the crises of our time and the existential crises of survival. Throughout history young people have been asking: ‘Who am I?’ & ‘How am I meant to make sense of the world?’ ‘How can I participate?’ As climate and social crises heat up around us, the youth continue to be a barometer for humanity’s well being, they continue to cry out, alerting us to danger and asking to be met and held in their creative potential.

In the early 80’s Steven and Meredith’s pursued working with youth, following a dream to fulfill an aching need they identified as core: “In our culture, we saw how the lack of community-sanctioned rites of passage ceremonies handicapped our young people when it came time to find their place as adults in our society.” ( Meredith Little Foster, The School of Lost Borders: A Love Story)

Steven and Meredith’s work with youth began to create the ‘bare-bones’ ceremony, gradually growing into the School of Lost Borders, and now reflected throughout its current programs and focused on training, death and dying.

An Excerpt from Meredith Little Foster’s The School of Lost Borders: A Love Story

In 2023 we are again investing in our young adult programs, growing our intergenerational teams, calling for more access and affinity space for youth from all walks of life.

Marking the threshold of adulthood takes great courage, perhaps now more than ever before as young people face growing stressors of environmental & social crises.

These programs support youth and young adults to cultivate self-trust, responsibility, and a personal understanding of one’s innate belonging & unique place in society and the natural world in these intensifying times.

We invite you to consider joining us if you are a young person, passing this invitation along to someone who may be interested, or donating to our Scholarship fund to support access to this and other School of Lost Borders programs.

     Young Adults Nature Based Rite of Passage     June 17th – June 28th, 2023 | Inyo Mountains – Big Pine, California, age 18-28