An Update from Michael Karlin
President, Mythic Imagination Institute
This month, I had the unique opportunity to deliver my first high school
commencement address. Having barely made it through high school myself, it was
not something I ever expected to have the honor to do. I guess the fact that it
wasn't my alma mater or even in the same state helped! I was asked to deliver
this speech to the students of St. Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury, Vermont
by a friend and supporter of Mythic Imagination who is a member of their Board
of Trustees. She felt our message that every life is a story, and a story can
change the world, was a perfect message for young adults to hear, particularly
when passing through this major threshold in their lives. While my initial
thought when she asked me was, "Sure, this will be fun," when I actually began
to think about what I wanted to say, the overwhelming responsibility and
opportunity of it all began to weigh down on me. I was going to be given one
chance to communicate with these 250 graduating seniors before they were going
to head out into the world on their journey; a mere 20 minutes to try and
convey the accumulated wisdom of Mythic Imagination. What would I say? How
would I choose?
I did realize that these kids were going to be in celebration mode and wouldn't
really want to hear some stranger telling them life lessons. But perhaps one or
two would actually listen, and if they did, perhaps it would have an impact. If
every life is a story, and a story can change the world, couldn't every
opportunity to affect someone's life have tremendous ramifications; even more
so with a young adult? While I typically "wing it" when I speak, the gravity of
the situation compelled me to write down my speech ahead of time. Up until the
minute I walked on stage, I kept questioning in my head whether I had selected
the right bits of information to share with them; the right stories. I may
never know, but I hope so. We've included the speech in this issue of Mythic
Passages. Tell me what you think?
At Mythic Imagination Institute, reaching children and young adults is a
critical part of our mission. To that end, we are currently working on several
initiatives in this area, and one that we are very excited about is our
partnership with Creating Pride. We are blessed to have a team of teachers who
have been volunteering their valuable time to help us build programs for K-12
education. Soon, we will begin working together with Creating Pride to create
workshops for teachers and other programs. In this month's issue of Mythic
Passages, we are privileged to have an article from Anne Ostholthoff, the
founder and president of Creating Pride that discusses the spirit and nature of
our partnership with them.
It is hard to believe that Mythic Journeys 2006 is only one year away, and that
it has been a full year since Mythic Journeys 2004. Planning for 2006 continues
to move ahead with great passion and creativity. The list of presenters and
performers is growing as the conference and performance festival is taking
shape. Since our last issue, we are very excited to be able to announce that
Chungliang al Huang has agreed to participate. He was not able to attend last
year due to scheduling conflicts, and as anyone that has experienced Chungliang
knows, a conference is just not the same without his energy, humor, and deep
spiritual roots. We are also very excited to announce that Robert Bly will be
joining us again in 2006. Please visit our website often to see our growing
interdisciplinary list of our presenters and performers.
Discounted early registration for Mythic Journeys will be on-line in early July.
Please register early to receive the discounted rate and to help us prepare
best for the conference.
Once again, our editor and dedicated volunteer staff have put together a
tremendous newsletter for you. I hope you enjoy it. Please keep in touch.
Be well,
Michael Karlin
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