In the world of my mythological making everyone is in the service industry. Each one serves those older than themselves and those older in turn serve those younger than themselves. And eldership is not only determined by age, birth date. Eldership is also determined by proficiency in any discipline or practice. For example, a 50 year old chef who has been cooking for 35 years is elder to a 60 year old who is just finding their calling to the kitchen. Meanwhile, that 50 year old chef who has directed their attention to learning to grow mushrooms and understand mycillium is junior to the 47 year old farmer who has been farming for 41 years when the context is the farm instead of the kitchen. But out in the broader community, the 50 year old is once again the elder.
Eldership is contextual. And a phrase that I learned on our Mobile Homecoming tour (of super heroes) is not all olders are elders. There need not be judgement. There need only be specificity.
This is something we practice here and there in many of our cultures that have lost elder reverence more broadly and formally. For we know to go to the person with long loving friendships to learn about friendship especially when we are having a challenge in a friendship. And we know to go to the one who has a quick comedic and poetic flare for insults when we want to vent and bad mouth a slight we feel we may have experienced. We go to the elder we want/need. Eldership is contextual.
Consider the young(er) person in your life that you might turn to for a technological concern vs the young person you might turn to in order to stay up to date on the latest slang or dance moves. Eldership is contextual.
In my mythology those who give service are those who are learning and newly building proficiency in a particular context. The one cleaning the carpet is a student of fibers and textiles and/or spatial design and/or sacred spacemaking. The one washing the dishes is learning and building proficiency as a potter and/or a chef and/or a systems engineer and/or a sustainability. Last one… The one keeping watch at night is a student of astronomy and/or astrology and/or reptiles and/or meditation. In my mythology noone is alienated from their work in such a way that the definition of their role is to clean or maintain anything or anyone for it’s own sake.
Whatever we maintain must be a part of and for the sake of the highest tranifestation of our purpose and passionate work on this planet and in this lifetime. Time-space is not meant to be exchanged solely for money. Time-space must be directed toward our purpose and passion and sustainability for our lives an outgrowth of that effort.
And the types of service I am talking about, call it apprenticeship if you like, are not based in hierarchy. They are based in the specificity of roles. Just like eldership is contextual, within any given relationship (even an apprenticeship) one person plays the role of guide while the other person plays the role of guided. So, while one person guides the other person supports that guidance. For example, to keep the metaphor going, if I am navigating and planning the trip through the dessert based on my experience then I know something about what is necessary for the journey. I therefore do all the things my experience and expertise dictate must be done and the one(s) I am guiding can contribute by preparing the things that THEIR experience and expertise allow, like water and food.
Perhaps one person on the journey prepares is an elder in the are of car maintenance and tires. They would do well to check the systems of the car, the tires, etc. A novice might get a first aid kit but maybe the nurse that is also going will suggest supplements to the first aid supplies. Everyone contributes based on their knowledge and experience. It is specific and not simply hierarchical.
In my desire (whispering: extreme need actually) for a personal assistant I understand that it must not be a situation of alienated labor. I have learned a great deal from following around the people who do what I want to be able to do. I have benefitted greatly from serving those who have written the books about the things for which I want to become an “expert” or motherful. Money was not the motive. In the world I imagine it can not be. Instead, it must be a result of deep alignment where someone interested in benefiting from proximity to an elder (in my particular contexts) means an investment in their own purpose and passion. In my mythology, this would be a nibling, a child of mine, a cousin or sibling. But in our modern context and also in the context of queer kinship practices, this role may be filled from a place that I have not imagined.
Peace,
Sangodare
