During the course of a recent school day, I took my daughter, a senior in high school, for her yearly sports physical. Gymnastics practice has been reduced to conditioning via Zoom. However, her newfound love since COVID, surf team, does get to meet on the beach 6:30 am twice a week. She’s grateful for the opportunity to experience the ocean together with her classmates.
I feel for the highly kinesthetic children, teens, and young adults who don’t have the opportunity to find an outlet during this pandemic, which has eliminated so much interaction, stimulation, connection, and income.
Since her high school is 100% distance learning through at least January, she hauled her laptop and Air Pods with her. Aside from the few minutes spent with her doctor, she followed the English lesson on the drive over, in the waiting room, in the doctor’s office, and on the ride home.
Most high schools now use block periods. Classes meet every other day for 90 minutes. On the drive home, the class broke up into small groups to study for the upcoming test.
Once the four in her group finished identifying the definitions and examples of literary devices, the conversation turned to colleges. It was impossible for me not to eavesdrop.
My daughter asked one of the young men in her group, “Do you still want to be a doctor?” And asked another of the young men in the group, “Did you get a 5 on your AP Physics exam?”
“Where do you want to go to college?” one of her classmates asked my daughter. “I want to study environmental engineering, and I want to go to a school close to the beach so I can surf,” she replied.
Idea for 4-Part Novel
Hearing them light-heartedly chit chat as they speculated about their future paths made me wonder whether they would stay on those paths or diverge from them, which reminded me of the Seven Up! series of movies and the movie Boyhood.
Their banter also made me think that it would be fun to write a novel about a group of friends at four different stages. Part 1—Senior Year in High School. Part 2—26, which is the end of the young adult years. Part 3—36. Part 4—46, Middle Age.
Seven Up! Series of Movies
Every seven years since the 1964 premiere of the documentary Seven Up!, British director Michael Apted has released a sequel. All of the movies track a group of 14 seven-year-olds from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds as they progress through adulthood. 63 Up, the latest in the series, was released in 2019. Following the progression of these 14 individuals offers insight into British society as well as the different stages of life.
Rebecca Mead’s review in The New Yorker “What 56 Up Reveals” sums up the series, “Rather than revealing the pressures of exterior social forces, the series shows the gradual inner development of empathy and sympathy—on the part of its participants and on the part of its maker. It demands the same enlarging sympathy from its audience.”
I find that analysis regarding fascinating in light of recent events. A conversation I had last night in the dog park with someone I know and like made me realize that empathy is not possible if you live in a bubble and you have an extremely superficial understanding of current events, the economy, and more.
Cameraman George Jesse Turner reflects on the series in The Guardian—“Seven Up! reaches 63: ‘I started filming them when they were young. But we are like a family now.’” The article says this about Turner’s experience through all the Seven Up! films, “He believes that neither class nor their involvement in the Up series has materially altered the lives of the cast.
Boyhood
Highly acclaimed Boyhood was released in 2014 and shot over the course of 2001 to 2013. It is a single film, not a series. It is a coming-of-age drama, not a documentary, that follows Mason Evans Jr.’s boyhood from the age of six until eighteen, and Mason is played by Ellar Coltrane.
The review in The Atlantic “Not Everyone’s Boyhood” points out, “What’s surprising is that, as portrayed in the movie, Mason lives 12 years in America without ever having or overhearing a significant conversation about race.” The review also points out that the coming-of-age genre has mainly focused on the lives of white youth.
Will my 4-part novel ever happen?
Who would be the characters? Not my daughter’s peers. Too boring. What fascinates me more Is how teens and young adults overcome traumatic experiences. Those who have an ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) score of four or more are more likely to experience mental health conditions and many other health conditions. It’s never a bad idea to raise #MentalHealthAwareness
This NPR segment transcript, Take the ACE quiz and learn what it does and doesn’t mean, contains a link to a quiz that determines your ACE score and puts the score in perspective.
Eavesdropping = Cheap Thrills
Maybe I love eavesdropping, because I grew up in New York City where you hear fragments of conversations while walking amidst crowds or while using public transportation. I don’t go out of my way to eavesdrop, but even a few overheard words in passing can trigger musings about characters and plots.
Dialogue is my favorite thing to write. It lets me mentally act out the characters so I can come up with what they would say. #AmWriting #WritingCommunity
Have you had any memorable eavesdropping experiences?