question about suriving highschool

make it fun to disagree with people. these people who are telling you to run and hide cuz you are different are telling you bullshit. let your freak flag fly and do lots of farting and people will love you.

 

Your Not alone in this struggle. You've described me in a nutshell at school, just know that there are people who understand, even when there are so many that don't. I also need guidance in the way of the world and what to do about school, But after reading these blogs, i plan to start making food at night and inviting kids out of the lunchroom and to start coming to play frisby and eat free food with people they usually wouldn't. its a farout dream, but hopefully it will work.

is there any other aged hippies that would like to give some advice to changing? I feel times will start changing when we start acting...

 

It's not just us, it's anyone who wants to be an individual. This world is out to make us all into one conformed being with no sense of self. Failing to do so gets you attacked by society.

I was constantly under both physical and verbal attack in school, so rather than deal with that daily, I decided it would be far more beneficial to me in every way to simply be home-schooled.

I have no advice but to remove yourself from the situation. It is not cowardice, as I fought back whenever attacked physically, and ignored them when attacked verbally. No, it's to preserve your confidence, to better your intellect, to strengthen your resolve. Being exposed to the enormous negative energy of high school will do more harm than good.

 

I was in a similar situation as well. I attended a rather small (200 students K-12), conservative school in Texas. For quite some time I was the only hippie in a sea of jock/redneck types. I was studious, quiet, rather nerdy. I, too, was surrounded by more affluent kids, definitely not in the in crowd. I read...for enjoyment (something that was not really done at this particular school.) Basically, it was a bad time, though I did finally find a core group of three friends half way through high school. One thing I did not do is conform, I was always a bit of a rebel, though not in a destructive way, and broadcast my beliefs as loudly and often as I could.

Anyway, my advice is to stick it out, get your degree. It is only a couple of years, and you will discover that high school means nothing once you are out. It will all fade into the background. Now, at 34, I could care less if I never see anyone from those days, and I have only the vaguest memories of that part of my life. I by no means recommend selling out or conforming, but I cannot honestly say dropping out would be a good idea. Do not change your core values, that which makes you the wonderful individual that you are, but also be prepared to be somewhat pliable, to bend with the wind, and you will weather the storm. Those who remain adamantly rigid and unyielding are too often broken against the unforgiving breakers of life.

I think a great place to start would be to analyze yourself and to list your strengths, weaknesses, goals, and means of acquiring those goals. And by goals I do not mean a nice job in the machine or some other means of "playing the game", it can be anything you want. Just try and put it all in perspective within the greater framework of your life (this high school business is a vey small part). Once you have weighed all of these factors and have a better understanding of yourself, you will be better equipped to decide which is the correct path- stay in or bail. Those who advise searching for like-minded individuals via the internet and other ways are offering excellent advice, there must be people similar to you out there, you simply must find them, perhaps on this very forum.

I would like to recommend a few books that helped me along, and allowed me to finally come to some degree of understanding about my place in the world...some as recently as last year.

Siddhartha- Hermann Hesse (this lead me- recently- to analyze myself, to ascertain my strengths and to know my weaknesses, and ultimately helped me decide to formulate my plan of living overseas in two years)

The Razor's Edge- W. Somerset Maugham (about a man who follows his own voice, flying in the face of all convention, but at the same time he is not angry or forceful, just resolved and dedicated).

Stranger in a Strange Land- Robert Heinlein (read this in high school, changed my entire life)

The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand (I read this during my first trip to India, and it had a very powerful effect)

 

Personally, being around a non-accepting community that I must always explain myself to is something I can deal with. Even through college I never even ran into a notably sized community of people that just 'got it'. It's just the current way it is in those flows of people. Although if you try hard enough, you can swim against the current of it and cause quite a stir! Thats always fun.

The thing that bothers me FAR more than un-accepting community. Is teachers creating various lessons that teach fairly odd and concealed morals and life lessons that you don't even really notice. Then just sit up there thinking "why does everyone treat each other so shittily? Oh I guess thats just what people are supposed to do".

One thing though, high school students are very hypnotized about stories of LSD.

If all else fails, as Leary said, dropping out must be gradual and elegant. It requires far more energy to properly drop out than it does to stay in society.

 

Tell me about it. A while back I received an invitation to attend a high school
reunion. Don't ask me how the hell they tracked me down.

I filled out the RSVP card as follows and mailed it back:

"Thanks for the invite. If high school hadn't sucked and most of you
weren't assholes, and if you hadn't trashed all the wonderful wild
places I used to love, I'd probably take you up on it."

Littlefoot

 

I would LOVE to go to a high school reunion! But the class I was in has not HAD one since. Maybe that says something for the realities. I have finally run into a couple of folks that I was in school with and heard news of more. And lo and behold, the tables have turned. Many of them are drunks. Several guys had gone bald. A few in prison. Several of the girls who I was so jealous of due to their popularity and looks, are now fat and ugly. Hardly any of them have their shit together as well as they wanted everyone to believe they did back then. I really had to laugh!

 

Gloating over other people's msfortunes isn't something I would expect
an Earth Mother to do.

Littlefoot

 

An Earthmother is still human and still has a sense of humor. It's a learning experience seeing it all unfold and finally getting it... But really, it's just fun to think about, I'd actually love to see all those folks one more time now that we're all grown up (?) Maybe we could start over and find some common ground, repair some karma... At least carry around a bit different mental image of each other...

Here's to a better year than the one before

 

"Still human"? A murderer could use that as an excuse, too. It's
quite human to kill other people.

I just expect someone who claims to be an Earth Mother to at least
try to live up to the name. I don't think the Earth gets satisfaction
from any human misery.

Some genuine sympathy should accompany your other feelings,
in my not-so-humble opinion. Maybe it did and you just didn't
express it. I choose to believe that's so.

I live up to _my_ name. My feet aren't very big.

About 10 years ago I ran into the schoolyard bully who
was my nemesis in high school. We fought a dozen times
and he kicked my ass every time and generally made much
of my time at high school miserable.

I could have taken him to pieces and utterly humiliated him
if I had wanted to. He was in terrible shape and I've had a
lot of training in that area since.

But I let those feelings go and discovered that I really just
felt sorry for him and treated him with more respect than
he deserved. Why kick someone when they are down?
That would make me as bad as he was.

Happy new year to you, too, Earthmother.

LIttlefoot

 

" I could of taken him peices and utterly humiliated him if I had wanted to. He was in terrible shape and I've had a lot training in that area"

Wow you were trained to tear people up, why would you train to do that but have no intention of using it. You are quiet confusing or confused one.. you refuse to 'fight' but you allowed yourself to go against what you say you believe and 'train' to fight. How ODD.

I also see you like to put others down, isn't that a form of abuse. Every time I read one of your posts, you make yourself look big by putting others down.. That sure aint the Hippie Way. Why is it Little Foot, that you think that your way is the only way and if people don't do, be, think like you. They are assholes, or windbags or have nothing worthy to contribute.

I don't care for the way you conduct yourself in the forums Little Foot. You try make people feel bad about themselves. That aint why we are here!! You are free to post here as long as you DO NO HARM, but you contenually try to belittle other folks opinion. You talk shit that you don't live up to yourself. I have my eye on you. I am in a position to boot your butt out of here if you persist in stomping on the flowers. This is your last warning.

shameless_heifer

 

That's a figure of speech, sh. I have been trained to protect myself and others
from violence without being brutal. Without permanently disabling them or
killing them.

But you already know that, because I've posted it several times on other threads
that you participated in.

So that accusation is incredibly dishonest of you.

What I would have done, had I succumbed to that unworthy tempation, would
have been something like pinning him to floor until he said "uncle" or rendering
him temporarily paralyzed or unconscious.

[QUOTE}
I also see you like to put others down, isn't that a form of abuse. Every time I read one of your posts, you make yourself look big by putting others down.
[/QUOTE]
I do that when faced with denial of obvious facts, which is quite common
in America, where you can be considered an "environmentalist" just because
you _say_ you are, even though your ecological footprint is significantly
above the average. This pisses me off.

But you are right. I still shouldn't do it, and I am trying. Try to understand
me, okay? I have been watching things get worse and worse for about
40 years now. And all the time there are people all over the place claiming
to be progressives who are engaged in doing something real to meet the
challenges that face the human race. But what they are doing is obviously
not working yet they won't face reality. This is _very_ frustrating.

Once again, it is just their denial of obvious facts that bothers me. We aren't
going to get anywhere if we won't face reality.

Like the free speech issue. It's written into the Constitution, but it doesn't
exist in mainstream America at all.

Claiming that we have free speech just because it is written into the Constitution
is like claiming that we don't have murder because it's against the law.

No. I try to get people to face reality. It's the reality that's bad.

You are trying to shoot the messenger.

I didn't create this world.

Only if that opinion is self-serving nonsense that has no basis in reality.

Lot of that around here. Here's some right now, coming up from
you:

That simply is not true. I have never claimed to be anything I am not.

I do indeed believe that you would try to kick me off the Forums for daring
to bring up issues that you don't want to face.

That's the American Way: Free speech for me but not for thee.

And: I'm an enlightened progressive because I _say_ I am.

But it wouldn't be for stomping on the flowers.

I am not stomping on flowers. I am stomping on plastic flowers.

Like you with all your "peace and love" bullshit. Anyone can read
your vicious and dishonest attacks on me on other threads.

And your talk about shooting people.

You are trying to hold me to a standard that you do not live up
to yourself. Yet you accuse _me_ of being a hypocrite.

I don't ask anyone to do anything that I don't do. I think people should
eat only plants and I eat only plants.

I think they should get rid of their cars and I don't have a car.

I think people shouldn't kill people so I don't have any weapons.

The list goes on.

Littlefoot

 

Oh my, Littlefoot, do you have NO sense of humor? Please tell me you are just pretending you don't understand what I say. Please tell me you don't really always have to look at things from a negative mindset as if everything anyone says, no matter how innocent or true, has to be picked apart and debated at length by you as if hip forums were your own personal soapbox and the rest of the world were your enemy?

Has it ever occurred to you that you are really taking life way too seriously? You will, for all your great knowledge of the proper ways to live, surely give yourself ulcers, gray hair, and high blood pressure from worrying so about what people think and say here. Good Lord! Try going to a forum for "pseudo-progressives for a capitalistic society" or some such! At least there your strong arguments and statements are more NECESSARY. I find that those individuals who you rebel against with the most vehemence seem to be those who you actually have the most in common with, and it would seem a better (and healthier) plan to be taking these people as allies rather than creating enemies out of nothing. All members of the human race are not all in the same bag. And those of us who ARE in the same bag may not agree with every single thing everyone else thinks on a personal level, but there is at least SOME power in numbers as opposed to being a totally separate entity from all others... A lot of us are friends here, friendships that have evolved over time with unmet, yet loved, intelligent and like minded people, and you COULD be one as well. But for some unknown reason, these very people are the ones you go after the hardest. We are not in competition here. Thankfully, the main targets of your wrath are the most able to cope, because they have PERSONAL POWER, which would appear to be the thing that you don't feel comfortable with...

 

(I deleted this post because I think I was being unfair to Earthmother and
shameless_heiffer. I get too defensive sometimes.)

 

Earthmother wrote:

"Try going to a forum for "pseudo-progressives for a capitalistic society" or some such!"

That's exactly where I am. There are very, very few people on these forums who are
proposing or involved in anything that isn't psuedo-progressive (meaning that what
they are doing or planning won't preserve the health of the planet and heal it, won't
bring an end to warfare; and won't resultin poor people being no longer exploited).
Regardless of their good intentions.

And certainly very, very few people here who are proposing or involved in anything
that will result in them distancing themselves in any way from capitalist society.

This kind of economy-culture requires trashing the planet, it requires the exploitation
of poor people, and it requires warfare.

Always has. Been like this from the beginning. From the first days of America
at the dawn of the Industrial Age. And it's worse now.

We aren't going to get anywhere until we accept the obvious
fact that this civilization is a failed socio-economic experiment.

The Left wants us to believe that it's basically a good system
being mismanaged, but when they are in power nothing changes.
Because they are wrong.

It is rotten from its very foundations. It can't be fixed. We have
to start from scratch and create a new civilization.

LIttlefoot

 

"...The Left wants us to believe that it's basically a good system
being mismanaged, but when they are in power nothing changes.
Because they are wrong.

It is rotten from its very foundations. It can't be fixed. We have
to start from scratch and create a new civilization."

Yea, I know, I know, but you have repeated this over and over again until it's getting to be an old story. You are preaching to the choir here. This society is VERY rotten. Absolutely. I'm NOT arguing. But creating a totally new civilization won't happen until things get so bad that this one falls to pieces and it's a forced issue, and then we will have made such a mess of the planet that we will have a hard time surviving. And that is the truth. And you know it is. And if I say any more, I will be repetitive also, and I don't feel it's necessary to shove my thoughts down peoples throats into infinity. Especially when it's someone who only wishes to find the differences and the divisions among people instead of the common grounds and common goals... But that's just a waste of time. Matters not to me what you do or how you live. You'll do what you do. It has no effect on my life at all. And my life affects you not one bit in reality, except that my life seems to disturb you greatly for some reason, even tho you have not one single clue as to how I DO actually live. Don't you ever THINK about what it is that you are doing here that seems to upset so many people? Do you think that upsetting people is a good way to get a point across? Actually, SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE is a much better way to get a point across to anyone. "YELLING" at people (putting them down, name calling, insults, constant criticism) does not work. When you "yell" at someone, they stop listening. They grow defensive. They no longer hear what you say. And that too is simply the WAY IT IS. And you know that too.

 

Considering your very recent reply to cosmicdust...

http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3978143#post3978143

Beginning:

"Cosmic dust, I really enjoy your posts! A lot of thought and research... But the one thought that resonated the most was that the truely wise man..."

...where you equate technological development with human evolution and
high-technology as our only hope, I'd say that I am not preaching to the
choir at all. Far from it.

That is just a copout. What you are saying is that you know we should change
our ways but you aren't going to change yours. You are just going to go on
living as you do while you wait for someone else to take care of things.

That's okay. They are.

A new civilization is being created right now by real progressives
that know better than to wait around for those who are just pretending to
be progressive. It's happenning.

I've deleted the rest of your post for obvious reasons. While holding my
nose.


Littlefoot

 

*Littlefoot. Please quit it, NOW. I KNOW you are smarter than this, as you have shown many times to be very intelligent. I am not obligated to spend my entire day trying to get you to understand what is ABSOLUTELY understandable to anyone else BUT you. You MUST be faking not being able to grasp the things I say. That is just plain horse-pucky!

It seems you have taken over almost every thread you enter as if you fancied yourself the king of hipforums. You post relentlessly until everyone else just gives up. You MUST always have the last imperial word. And whenever someone calls you on it, you ignore most of what they say and simply continue on your nit-picking way. You are overbearing, repetitive, and insulting. You pick apart every single post from others with a vengance much like a vulture picking at fresh road kill, even managing somehow to find fault with people who are agreeing with you. Picking arguments with people who actually have very much in common with you, attempting to crucify those who are the biggest participators in the forums. You are purposefully (?) misreading and misunderstanding what I say. Are you TRYING to waste people's time? What really IS your point??? Have you simply found a place where people tend to be more accepting than most, so you are allowed to continue on longer here with your insulting manner than you would be on other forums? Are you just here to USE people as scapegoats? I'm REALLY TIRED of going over the same old stuff over and over again with you in an attempt to try to simply get you to understand what I am CLEARLY saying. You know perfectly well that it is just a waste of time, because all you are actually interested in is finding fault, not having a discussion with anyone. You are far too certain that you are the only one who is right in every instance and it seems your main motive is to cram your "rightness" down everyone's throats, no matter WHAT anyone else says or thinks about anything. I say AGAIN, have you not noticed that most people who are having a discussion with you eventually get fed up??? Go back and look at your posts for petes sake! You seem to feel the need to DOMINATE every thread and everyone you come in contact with, ESPECIALLY if they won't play your game. What IS YOUR PROBLEM???????????? There are lots of really good folks here! But you treat everyone as if they were simply HORRIBLE, stupid, or at very least, beneath you. If you refuse to answer any other questions, at least answer me this. WHAT DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU ARE ACCOMPLISHING IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION BY ATTACKING EVERYONE??? You behave in a manner that, intelligent or not, TURNS PEOPLE OFF!!! It takes away your CREDIBILITY! I should think you would want to do JUST THE OPPOSITE. If you REALLY cared about the environment or anything else for that matter, you would want to approach people in a way that would get them to LISTEN to you, NOT piss them off!!! Come on dude, YOU ARE SMARTER THAN THIS!!!!!!!!!! Try LISTENING for once.

Oh, I know, I'm so hypocritical, and pseudo-something-or-another and stupid and ignorant and horrid that you will just have to ignore me, that is after you have called me a pig or a moron or an idiot or some other childish thing... Heard it all before about a hundred times, FROM YOU ONLY. Why do you suppose that is?

*Another thread ruined by LITTLEFOOT.

 

By the way, FOOT, I DO NOT GET SATISFACTION FROM HUMAN MISERY. I don't even get how or why you would think that. When I said it made me laugh, did I say I was laughing AT THEM??? No, I didn't think so. Did it EVER once occur to you that I MIGHT have meant I was laughing at MYSELF or the SITUATION? I thought not...

 

Stands beside Patsy in UNITY and Sisterhood.. the REAL STUFF up close and personal.

You had better come up with a better plan LF, this one is NOT working in here for you. I'm speaking as a moderator now., you ARE steping on the guidelines now by harrassing faithfull members, ones that do contribute to the forums and have formed alliences and bonding friendships You are telling the same thing repetively in every thread you go to, which is against the guidelines.. Skip did not create these forums for you to blast the members, who by their LOVE and DEDICATION keep the halls sacred in a manner. Our Creed is to use no force and you say use no force, but like I have said, Patsy and others have also said, making it a majority, you are trying to force the issue even with ones that agree with you.

Your making a pest outta yourself and your starting to act like your off your meds. You leave me no alternative but to put a stop to it if you contenue with the pattern you are setting.

If you do have any intelegence at all, you will stop acting like you know everything about peoples lives which you obviously have NO CLUE to knowing and claiming everyone else is scum. Don't press me on this matter. Either BE COOL or your gone!! I will not play your stupid game any longer or allow you to disrupt every thread and members with your rantings.. You have my word on this.

Best get your shit together dude. This IS your last warning, and you can stick that where the sun don't shine (your own words).

sh