Signs of a Hippie

Image via Wikipedia

There are a lot of things that come to mind about what a "hippie" actually is. I believe there is a spirit of being a hippie in all of us. How others "define" you depends on how deep you impact them. Most people only have their understanding based on what they've "heard." I'm expressing what MY experience and perspectives are.

I was born a month before the first Woodstock in 1969. Which means that I was raised by  people that lived in the key defining age of being a hippie. I just want to define that I was alive when the term "hippie" became expressed. This is about opening your mind to another person's perspective.

Being a child in the early 70s impacted me so deeply that even to this day, I can't ignore the signs of what I learned then about the hippie life. The parties that my Mom had on the weekends still haunt me to this day. No, I don't dress with the clothing that was popular then, but I have had very long hair, have pierced parts, don't wear dye ties but want to be comfortable. But it is a little above and beyond that, as a "lifestyle" that we all accept in our opinions.

A "hippie" is defined as (according to Dictionary.com) as:

hip·pie

a person, especially of the late 1960s, who rejected established institutions and values and sought spontaneity, direct personal relations expressing love, and expanded consciousness, often expressed externally in the wearing of casual, folksy clothing and of beads, headbands, used garments, etc.

Times and people change, this isn't a CURRENTLY definition. Drop the part about what they wear, but they still espouse the parts about institutions, values, spontaneity, love, and consciousness.Which is where I am. I guess I'm a spiritual hippie.

How I live now, daily and spiritually, that espouses it:
☮ I still separate the colors of the glass bottles that I take to the recycle center
☮ I use a "Can Crusher" on all of the pop cans I collect, so I can save them to take to the scrap yard
☮ I use a mulch blade on my mower to replenish the soil 
☮ I compost my kitchen scraps to reduce what I put in the garbage
☮ I use canvas bags (that I bring) at stores when I purchase things, bag the items myself to cut down on wasting trees and oil for the bags that they provide
☮ I use CFL instead of incandescent bulbs to cut down on the energy needed to light them, saving coal
☮ I express my spontaneity each and every chance I can. It might get me in trouble, but I express it
☮ I am in love and am very tactile
☮ I consciously approach everything in life by determining the outcome of my actions

Peace out...