What makes a hippy? (hello again)

Some of you may remember me from a few years ago. My name was hip_zim and I made a fool of myself and dissapeared. I loved my time here and made many friends.

So to the point of my thread.
What is it that makes a hippy? Is it the clothes or the hair? Is it the attitude or political beliefs?
I wear all black a lot of the time and people jump to the conclusion that I'm a "goth".
I put myself in the hippy grouping yet I have absolutely no idea why.

So in short I want to know, What makes a hippy different from a goth who wears bright colours?

P.S - Sal, Sunny & Smurf, I apologise for the what happened the last time we met. I hope enough time has passed for you to forgive me and for me to have become a more socially resposible person.

 

"what makes a hippie?"


all that makes a hippie if we must have labels is what is on the inside. i would never say that I am a hippie, i am a Michael, however many say my beliefs, view and lifesyle are very hippyish.

if you feel love and peace in your heart, that is all that is needed. your soul is your personality, nothing on the outside matters
peace

 

I've always thought of myself as a hippy, not as a label, just as one of many descriptions of me that could be used. I don't dress like one and i don't throw the fact that i am about much but i still believe it quite strongly.

I'd say - for me: being a hippy is about having your own beliefs but your main desire as global peace and freedom. Some hippies force these beliefs and some just try to bring the joy out of any situation

But there isn't one definition, it's too non descript a word and it becomes relative instead, everyone has their own personal understanding of what a hippie is.

 

i would put myself more in the 'gypsy' category - lifestyle-wise - i'm more into old shacks,dodgy bits of wasteland n bonfires than vegeteriansm/being morally active - i'd like to be but was too much into rock n being morose its hard to grow out of.Festivals tho fit in just great cos i'm really into music - have been in bands n shows all my life.U won't remember but i was on bbc1 with anthea turner and jason donovan in about 1988 singing one of my own songs.I can admit to that here now as no-one knows who the fk i am!

 

in the words of bil hicks when asked by a cop for his identification
"im me, you're you"

i guess you have to hear him say it.

I seem to be mentioning dead comic genius' a lot this week

 

.

 

What makes a hippy? I think, for me, I'd have to say, the clothes. I mean, your politics changes, everything moves on, but the one thing that always identifies you is the bright clothing, or your entire look. Scruffy and colourful, maybe with a flower in your long hair, some flares, and, you know, bracelets.

I mean, you can go on listening to Led Zeppelin II for the rest of your life, but you can't really be considered a hippy unless you got the tie-dye.

 

so how long exactly is it since you were here? how did you lose the angst? are you part of the old archives that still exist? Wjere did you go? Am I asking enough questions to be irritating yet? Whats happening this friday night where u are?

 

tonight i am having a night im having a night in as im going to my parents tomorrow so its a night of wine, absinthe and farscape.
the angst went because i stopped being a selfish hormonal teenager. i did a bit of soul searching after embarressing (sp) myself rather horrifically.

i was on these forums in 2003 so i doubt im on here. theres a few pics of me on the greenbelt thread. im the guy drinking cider from his boot

P.S i edited my angsty bit cause i forgot to include it in the original post

 

are dandy and jaz still around?

 

To be honest I can't be arsed with sticking myself in any form of group, I dress how I like, listen to anything and everything when I need to, have my own political beliefs and take action against what I feel is wrong.
Sod all this what makes a "hippy" stuff

 

this site is caled "hip" forums and is obvously aimed at "hippes" therefore anyone coming posting here would on some level see themselves falling into this catagory in some way or another.
I just want to know why

 

I first came here when I was undergoing hip replacement surgery. Thought it was going to be about that. Not quite sure why I'm still here

 

i guess people with fractured forearms go to the armyforums

 

Yep. Ended up spending two years in Afghanistan last time I had a fracture

 

who was the moderator out there? did the server go down often?

 

I suppose the word has an obvious connection with the sixties,I could never profess to be a hippy cos I wasn't around then.Sometimes i notice people who add the word 'man' to every sentence - i do it myself sometimes when showing people out the door - e.g. see you man and in uk it often is an indicator that they are either a dickhead or have listened to alot of the music from that era.I think it comes down to the music.But I probably have stronger links with 70's stuff - like 'the canterbury sound' that is kind of a throwback to a more spiritual perception but without the whole peace/war thing and musically just more interesting.My brother bought a leather jacket from a barn and put 'YES' - 'Close to the edge' on the back of it - in 1979 - then I inherited it when he went off to college - I moved to Brighton then alot of people noticed that on the back - and through that I met alot of people who introduced me to music I would never heard of - like King Crimson - Focus - Frank Zappa and that lead me into discovering all the 60's stuff witch in turn lead to going to parties/joining bands/squats/caravan sites where all that shit was/is still being celebrated - which shows just how many ripples that era made.But as to lifestyle i dunno - you've gotta have one hell of a strong head to live an alternantive lifestyle in uk today it seems to me.All the people I've met who don't conform have alot of knowledge in physics thats everything from tuning an engine to re-roofing a house or re-vamping a boat to be seaworthy - to growing vegetables or running a car on chip fat etc.I'm crap at those things and just rely on my music to get me by,so I'm one of societies bitches i suppose - just dip in here and there - experiencing other peoples way of life

 

my parents were old hippies from the 60's so naturally i grew up around the music and the... tension. i guess they were the seeds that grew me into who i am today.

 

I think people quite often over-complicate what should be a very simple answer, so here's my attempt.

I'd say that a hippy must possess an open but cautious attitude to society and the self(in other words, sometimes self-gratifying but always considerate and aware of others). Many people we'd call hippies are observant and critical of society's preconceptions and flaws (Socrates was most certainly a hippy) but I wouldn't say that's a prerequisite as so many others are very relaxed and apolitical.

Tastes and trends can be mimicked by anyone (hippie chic, anyone?) and some musicians have become ubiquitous idols that have been hijacked by common hype. I'd say tastes, while often quite similar (in that they're diverse and often avoid the mainstream), are irrelevent to what makes a hippy.

Though I could simply be saying that so I can call more people hippies. Isolation can make you desperate, you know.

 

hey zim yeah dandy and jaz are still about


many of the old uk'ers have moved onto pastures new.
dandy i'm sure is till posting on here. jaz has given it a miss for quite some time though-just promotes tankus and stuff on here now i think.
Were you at greenbelt last year with jaz, dandy and arlia?
im going this year