In the previous article, we saw how sexual energy serves the early adolescent to overcome illness as a rite of passage between the child and the adult. In fact this is but one function of this energy for teens. They also need it to:

            1) Support the concentrated physical growth of the body throughout adolescence.

            2) Support the digestive system in its increased burden as they consume large    quantities of food.

            3) And provide the taproot for blossoming emotional and intellectual activity.

                       

     It is not intended for actual sexual activity, neither experimenting with oneself  (excessively or perversely) nor engaging with others. Adolescents are ‘adolescent’ because they are ‘growing up’, i.e., not yet ‘grown up’ (adult). To engage in sexual activity at this premature time is a waste of current generation and a danger to future generation. It is a waste because it saps the energy needed for breaking the chains of childhood, physically and emotionally. And it is a danger because two immature people may well create premature (weakened) offspring.

            And so, in spite of the grand desire to willfully or haphazardly throw their energy around, teens are better served by preserving their sexual essence for personal development. This means: getting plenty of sleep; and when not sleeping, getting plenty of movement; and when properly expended, refueling on a balance of hearty fare. In this simple routine naturally emerge interests and experiences that shape the body, the emotions, and the intellect and prepare them for the whole-new-set of adult rigors and freedoms.

            Upon becoming adult, the sexual energy can then find beautiful expression in the act of sex. The body and emotions being as fully developed as possible, there is a freedom to relax and create a spiritual event, rather than the need to fulfill one or both partner’s emptiness.  That emptiness cannot be filled by one’s partner anyway; fulfillment goes back to childhood and adolescence, the ‘growing’ years. Even in adult age, if we wish to grow, mustn’t we first become pliable like the bones of the child, with the grit and passion of the teen? And then, of course, we would also need to gather our resources, to place our eggs in one basket. So it is.

            And it is precisely the spiritual creation out of the sexual act, not the exposure of the act itself, that as adults we aim to pass along to our children and model for the teen. It is this that truly inspires and brings joy, and provides the integrity to both understand and weather the natural ups and downs and all-the-way-arounds that life is. It is subtle, and outwardly shows itself to the teen in the practice of a craft, whether it be music, sport, mechanics, or mothering. The teen sees the shine coming off the polishing act, and he is enthralled.

And so the sun sets on adolescence, and brings us to the subject of early adult sexual function and fertility, next month.