PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Growth Patterns
Now there is full development of the physical form. Body proportions are now fully mature, and muscular strength is potentially at its peak. This is a "walk" stage, in which the individual begins to explore the adult world through a newly completed facility.
Nutrition
The young adult has probably had a great deal of training in proper nutrition over the years. Now it is time to put it into practice, with no one looking over the shoulder to enforce good habits. Unfortunately, poor habits at this time may only show up in occasional colds, since there may be a large reserve of health left over from childhood. However, those little sniffles can be the warning sign of major problems later in life, for if the body is made to suffer through fast foods and hurried eating long enough, it will start clogging up (in intestinal and arterial blockage) or breaking down (in ulcers or colitis). The best cure is prevention, and that means avoiding convenience and indulgence in favor of quality and good sense.
PSYCHO-SOCIAL & CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Developmental Urges & Tasks
Moving into adulthood, the spirit of single-mindedness (or single eye) comes to focus. There are so many options for the young person, so many choices of seemingly equal benefit. Actually, most of those so-called options are really distractions, because a sense of purpose would dictate much more precise action than just choosing from a social or occupational "menu." Whereas adolescence was a time to gain mastery of the intellect, this is the stage for learning to control the emotions -- to learn tranquility and the ability to listen, outwardly and inwardly. Through this learning, purpose can be more accurately perceived, and subsequent choices of job, relationship, etc. can be appropriate.
Erikson sees this stage as a time to learn how to be intimate rather than isolated. Usually this is seen in terms of boy-girl intimacy leading to marriage. But this urge goes into every area of life: the young adult feels the need to learn how to be intimate and facile with all the details of living, including money and job performance as well as social relationships. This kind of intimacy can only be known as one comes to know oneself, and that must include the mastering of emotions.
Sense Development
Once the rudimentary senses are developed, the individual can begin to develop and fine-tune the more subtle senses. This is the time for formal training in the Creative Process and emotional education. Although such training is difficult to find in the world today, it does exist through various group seminars and retreats. Unfortunately, it does not appear in college course offerings, although some elements of it exist in certain non-credit continuing education listings.
How does one determine what might afford emotional education and/or creative process training? The criteria would be one or more positive answers to such questions as: Does this course help me come to grips with my need for stability and assurance? Does it help me learn to process or re-evaluate my attitudes? Does it help me learn to stand back from my feelings and circumstances and see from a larger perspective? Does it help me learn how to participate, take risks, and communicate with others? Does it allow me to make my own decisions, to come face-to-face with myself, rather than force some kind of technique or structure on my thinking and feeling? Does it help me become more effective in discerning what is appropriate and fitting?
Time and stress management courses may help a young adult stay calm in pressure situations. Public speaking courses may help develop confidence and relaxation in social situations. Even mountain climbing and white-water rafting have been used to help adults come to grips with such qualities as teamwork, self-esteem, and personal initiative. Young adults long for a rich quality of experience in their jobs, their social relationships, and all through their lives. These are some of the ways they can come to know it.
Character Development
This is the stage in which character development is expressed through life skills. This includes occupational skills, surviving-on-your-own skills, and social skills. It is a time for standing on one's own two feet in the Creative Process. Fine character in this stage would reflect a balance of adventurousness and practicality, of respecting convention while exploring personal lifestyle. At this stage, emotions can come under control, to be used by the person instead of the other way around.
A young adult who is "on track" would be able to handle the initial responsibilities of the adult world while living within one's means. This would be exemplified by steady employment, financial stability, and social ease. There would not be any overreaching economically or emotionally, nor would there be any sense of "soap opera" or that the world is overwhelming, unfair, or difficult. The natural drive and initiative of this stage would not be translated into hurrying or "pushing" natural cycles. The Creative Process would be proved in daily living, and there would be an overall excitement at the possibilities of what it would bring next.
Educational Approach
The majority of adult learning is concerned with internal processing. Of course, there are job-related and household skills to be learned, but the primary focus is in one's own personal processes. This is not to imply egotism or self-absorption. The individual is concerned to stay attuned with the Creative Process, and this requires "minding one's own business." What others think and feel is taken into account, but ultimately one must learn to move with assurance as integrity dictates, then work with the consequences as they come.
So this is a time for two types of learning: occupational and emotional. The first comes in professional coursework or on-the-job training. The second comes in the types of courses or seminars described earlier, in which individuals apply the Creative Process in special or simulated settings, then evaluate their performance and participation. Many corporations are discovering that these two types of learning go hand-in-hand, employing outdoor adventurists to take junior and even senior executives through rather strenuous activity. When properly supervised and "debriefed," this can help enhance company loyalty, team effort, and overall creativity.
SOCIALIZATION & GUIDANCE PROCESSES
Parenting Patterns
As their offspring comes into young adulthood, parents can offer the spirit or wisdom of the womb in a symbolic sense. This may sound strange, but there is a birth taking place: an adult is about to come into the world. For this, the parents give of their wisdom, perhaps in the form of counsel or advice, but mostly in the form of friendship. This means leaving the parenting role as it has been known and discovering a new relationship. Not only is there is wisdom in doing this as far as the parent is concerned, but there is a certain wisdom revealed to the young person as well.
Responsibility
Moving into the adult years, the individual becomes self-responsible. This is not a time to look back (try to be parented), nor is it a time to try to overreach (try to be responsible for much more than oneself). There is an urge in the young person to stand on two feet and prove the Creative Process in daily living. That is enough in itself. Ask almost anyone who has tried to start a family or run a large business while still in their early twenties, and you will hear how difficult it can be. Self-responsibility is a tall enough order, requiring much more care than one might imagine.
Society and Community Involvement
Most likely, the young adult has left not only home but neighborhood and city as well. An entirely new support network must be created. New friendships form, often centered around one's work environment, although other alternatives do present themselves. Aside these new friends, the young adult comes to experience a new kind of relationship with colleagues and superiors. These are the ones who will influence the work ethic and the possibility of future achievement. Colleagues can reinforce in each other the desire and ability to let the Creative Process work through to completion. Superiors can inspire the vision of how consistency and integrity will lead to expansion of ability and responsibility.
Because of the importance of the workplace, the young adult would be wise to observe carefully and learn its unspoken and informal "rules." This is not an encouragement to "learn the system" in order to take advantage of it for self-gain, but to take advantage of the setting to learn the ways of the world and to learn to read character in others. The knowledge that comes from this can help the young adult make wise choices of words and actions in both professional and personal life.