What are the cultural passion points of the new year? Families will 'beehive,' workers will find balance, individuals will seek adventure and an Eastern sense of spirituality

Story by
Jaine Carter
and James D. Carter
Scripps Howard

Illustration by
David Swann
Star-Bulletin

People have been predicting the future, and followers have been acting on those predictions, since time began.

Remember Joseph and the seven years of feast followed by seven years of famine? Or Nostradamus? Then there were Alan Toffler with "Future Shock" and John Naisbitt with "Megatrends." Today, the new gurus of prediction, Vickie Abrahamson, Mary Meehan and Larry Samuel, have coined the term iconoculture.

According to these three marketing renegades dedicated to helping turn trends into business opportunities, reporting a trend is a no-brainer. Doing something with it is the tricky part.

That makes sense. If the Pharaoh hadn't listened to Joseph's interpretation of his dreams and then taken his recommendation about storing all that grain during the predicted seven good years, in anticipation for the seven years of famine to come, a lot of people would have starved to death and Joseph would have surely lost his job (not to mention his head).

The iconoculture group isn't into dreams, but they do interpret what's happening in our society by gathering information from a wide variety of sources in various locations around America, then sifting through the clutter for cultural passion points that connect. Using this method the trio has identified 40 cultural trends they claim will transform your job, your life and your world into the new millennium. These they share in their recently released book, "The Future Ain't What it Used to Be" (Riverhead Books).

How reliable are these predictions? All trends -- cigars, roller blades, tattoos -- move through predictable stages or states of cool, according to Lawrence Samuel of Iconoculture, Inc. Once mainstream, trends either die, mutate into microtrends or cement into national pastimes. Cigars, Samuel says, will recede next year, but the trend won't disappear.

Don't confuse a trend with a value. The four states are fringe (pre-cool), trendy (cool), mainstream (post-cool) and mutation (neo-cool).

So what does the future hold for you in 1998? Will working couples still be in vogue? Should you quit your jobs and start a health spa? Well, as always, you have to plan your own future, but knowing what's cool and what's fading can help you devise a better plan. Here are a few of Iconoculture's predictions as they relate to relationships:

The new family: The traditional family has exploded and expanded. All forms of families are gradually earning legitimacy, including tri-generational, multiracial, and multi-unit families. There will be a significant blurring of roles between parents and their children, but families will remain strong, cohesive networks of people, the beehive of all beehives.

Beehiving: This is the forming of new, smaller communities as our large ones break down. These groups will be beehives of shared interests, values and activities such as tennis or golfing communities.

Bunkering: In order to keep body and soul together, and to lock out an increasingly hostile world, we will be retreating more into the inner sanctum of our bunkers, our homes.

Kid quake: Kids will continue to be the queens and kings of the family hive, acting as gatekeepers for what goes in and on in households.

The workplace: Balance is the trend. Employers have gotten the message that workers need help balancing work and family. Even now 73 percent of large corporations in the United States have some sort of program to help employees.

Altered states: In our desire to relieve the pressure and to get away from it all we will seek ways to live out our fantasies. Destinations of escape include race-car schools, a ride on a jet fighter, mountain climbing.

Tarzaning: Wondering whether to redecorate in faux animal prints? Indulge yourself. Modern day Tarzans and Janes are reclaiming the savage soul, trying to get back to the jungle that resides somewhere within. Sports utilities vehicles, combat boots, hemp sweaters and Tarzan-like surroundings will continue in popularity.

Wise women: Time was when women were revered for their wisdom, cures and comfort. A once abusive society has rediscovered woman's intuitive gifts and will again seek her advise and guidance.

Chi: East has invaded the West and Americans will continue their quest for chi, a sense of inner balance and centeredness.

Detox: Man your battle stations for the fight against "invisible" cultures such as toxins, poisons and germs.

Synesthesia: Get ready for the era of the senses as we seek synesthesia, the maximizing and blending of sensory environments. From fine wine to bath teas, we are into pleasuring ourselves.

Merit badges: Better hold off on purchasing that larger house. The trend toward collecting experiences vs. things will become a full-fledged movement in the third millennium. This is boomers' quest to experience rather than own.

Personal best: All of us are seeking paths toward greater self-fulfillment which could result from volunteer work, mentoring or adopting disadvantaged children.

Individuality is still our mantra but we are looking for ways to harmoniously blend the parts with a greater whole. The future is still yours to design and you are freer to do that today than at any other time in history. Design a happy new year.

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Jaine Carter, Ph.D., and James D. Carter, Ph.D., are a
dual career couple, management consultants and authors of
"He Works She Works -- Successful Strategies for Working Couples"
(AMACOM, $17.95).