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0The Odyssey Years
There used to be four common life phases: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Now, there are at least six: childhood, adolescence, odyssey, adulthood, active retirement and old age. Of the new ones, the least understood is odyssey, the decade of wandering that frequently occurs between adolescence and adulthood.
During this decade, 20-somethings go to school and take breaks from school. They live with friends and they live at home. They fall in and out of love. They try one career and then try another.
Their parents grow increasingly anxious. These parents understand that there's bound to be a transition phase between student life and adult life. But when they look at their own grown children, they see the transition stretching five years, seven and beyond. The parents don't even detect a clear sense of direction in their children's lives. They look at them and see the things that are being delayed. They see that people in this age bracket are delaying marriage. They're delaying having children. They're delaying permanent employment.
Yet with a little imagination it's possible even for baby boomers to understand what it's like to be in the middle of the odyssey years. It's possible to see that this period of improvisation is a sensible response to modern conditions.
Young people grow up in tightly structured childhoods, but then graduate into a world characterized by uncertainty, diversity, searching and tinkering. Old success recipes don't apply, new norms have not been established and everything seems to give way to a less permanent version of itself. Dating gives way to Facebook and hooking up. Marriage gives way to cohabitation. The job market is fluid.
The odyssey years are not about slacking off. There are intense competitive pressures as a result of the vast numbers of people chasing relatively few opportunities. Rather, what we're
And as the new generational structure solidifies, social and economic entrepreneurs will create new rites and institutions. Someday people will look back and wonder at the vast social changes wrought by the emerging social group that saw their situations first captured by“Friends”and later by “Knocked Up.”
生词好句
odyssey 英 [ˈɒdəsi] 美 [ˈɑːdəsi] n.（本文）充满考验、却始终有坚守的成长之旅；奥德赛
Odyssey一词源自古希腊诗人荷马的史诗作品《奥德赛》。该史诗讲述了英雄奥德修斯在特洛伊战争结束后，历经十年艰险归乡的故事。他在归途中遭遇独眼巨人、女妖诱惑，并因海神波塞冬的阻挠而长期漂泊，最终才得以回到家园与家人团聚。在现代英语语境中，"odyssey"成为一种富有象征意义的表达，用来比喻一段充满挑战与考验的漫长旅程。这种旅程并非一帆风顺的成功之路，而是在困境与迷茫中不断坚持与成长的过程，体现出一种坚韧不拔、富有英雄主义色彩的精神内涵。
wander 英 [ˈwɒndə] 美 [ˈwɑːndər] v. 游荡，徘徊（move around without clearly direction）
I wandered lonely as a cloud. 我似流云，天自游。
Not all those who wander are lost. 不是所有的漫游者都会迷失；探索者，从不迷失。
注：本文中，wander除了表示move around之外，还能表示go astray，即偏离正常路线，偏离预期。
There's bound to be something. 一定会有......
detect 英 [dɪˈtekt] 美 [dɪˈtekt] v. 察觉；发现；探测
detect a change 察觉到细微变化
detect a hint of sadness 察觉到一丝悲伤
improvisation 英 [ˈɪmprəvaɪz] 美 [ˈɪmprəvaɪz] n.（本文）随性探索；即兴创作；临时应对
structured 英 [ˈstrʌktʃəd] 美 [ˈstrʌktʃərd]
adj.（本文）按部就班，井然有序的；有结构的，有框架的
structure n. 结构
tinker 英 [ˈtɪŋkə] 美 [ˈtɪŋkər] v. (本文）小幅尝试、轻微调整；小调整、小改变（to make small changes to something in order to make it work better）
Young people are tinkering with their career paths.年轻人一直在摸索、微调自己的职业道路。
success recipe 成功之道
recipe n. 菜谱、食谱
give way to 给.......让位，被……取代（be replaced by something）
slack off 偷懒，懈怠，松劲儿；躺平，摆烂
rite 英 [raɪt] 美 [raɪt] n. 仪式；惯例，行为规范
