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Welcome to Labyrinth Center, a nonprofit organization
dedicated to helping teens and adults
through the adolescent process.
Adolescence
is strongly related to the labyrinth. Most people do not realize
there is a distinct difference between a labyrinth and a maze.
A maze is built to be confusing to the participant. Blind alleys
and blocked paths confuse and confound the traveler, making this journey
difficult and frustrating. Conversely, a labyrinth is a single
guided path, allowing a clear direction to the center and back out again.
Without the confusion and frustration of a maze, labyrinths offer a
more subtle, internally focused trip where one learns from the quietness
within.
Modern culture
has created a scenario where adolescents are expected to get through
the maze on their own. The maze is what happens when we look at
adolescence as “a phase to get through.” The maze creates
anger and lots of failure along the way, often leading the traveler
nowhere at all. Getting stuck is common, which often leads to
quitting.
The universal
and cross-cultural processes of working adolescents were built on the
principle of the labyrinth: to create clear and simple paths to adulthood
without all the negativity, difficulty, and arbitrariness of the maze.
This simple path was created, supported and mentored by those who had
walked it previously. The labyrinth represents a trail followed
by countless others before, marked clearly for future generations to
follow.
Thus, today’s
teens meander an unmarked trail through the maze rather than through
the labyrinth. They plow ever forward, stumbling into the blocked
passages and closed pathways, looking for signs or clues to the correct
direction but not finding them. There is no clear criteria for
them to follow or emulate, and they often become lost or take the wrong
path. What is most sad is that we hold this lack of direction and
focus against them.
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Labyrinth
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Maze
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As you enter the labyrinth directly above,
the path wonds around without obstructions and takes
yu directly to the center, then you come easily back
out again.
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As you enter a typical maze, there are
multiple directions you can go, and you might never reach
the center, or you'd at least make a lot of mistakes
along the way.
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Labyrinth Center's bottom-line philosophy is to try and create more of a labyrinthine path through the process of adolescence for modern teens. Our goal is to make the trip as simple and meaningfull as possible, moving youth away from and out of the maze they currently wander.
For more information on Labyrinth Center, our programs or trainings, please e-mail us or...
Labyrinth Center
3386 South Upper Truckee Road
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
530.577.6920
530.577.8415 fax
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Webmaster: Bret Stephenson
Last Updated March 27, 2009