I've outgrown you all

Well, Shine, here's my 2 cents.

I'm happy that you've reached a different point in your life, but I've come to some realizations from you by reading your posts. You don't seem to've "transcended" anything, so much as you've segwayed into another form of being that you feel is "acceptable" to "normal" society - which is a concept that is rediculous. There is no "normal" way of dressing or acting. So many people are different, with so many different mental ideals. To me, what I got out of your post, was that you believe that hippies are ignorant, childish, apathetic toward any self-improvment:

-You stopped smoking pot. Okay, but was that because you're trying to be this new 'normal', 'mature' person, or is it because you actually don't enjoy it anymore? Because you've just now stated you're quitting in the same post as stating your 'new found maturity' I'm going to assume that you quit for the former reason rather than the latter, which, to me, is a disgusting way to live one's life.

-You're focused on learning? And... you weren't when you were dressed in your "revolution" jacket?

-You picked up reading again? ...dressing like a hippie somehow made you apathetic toward self-improvement and education? Read if you like to read, or don't read if you don't like to read, but don't imply that a pair of Bananna Republic slacks and a JCrew button-up Oxford were the pre-requisite to you beginning to read and educate yourself. Hippie Bob down the street knows more about Quantum Physics than you'll probably ever be able to fathom in your life, and he's happily wearing his Creedence tour shirt while doing it. Hell, I'm a classically trained pianist and flamenco guitarist, and I am generally in nothing more "classy" than a T-shirt and some jeans.


-You've reached a level where you have come to understand the reason why these wars are going on, and the political games being played behind them? I guess by age 16 you've surpassed the likes of Leon Tolstoy? You understand fully now the depth of geopolitics in the 21st century, and you understand the inner-workings of the bureaucracy and every nuance of partisan political agenda, and therefore, you can stop being such a sloppy, dirty, misinformed hippie , and you can now become 'normal', and with all your clout and your obvious grasp of the bureaucratic game, you can now take down the establishment from the inside! That's rediculous. You'd get more done by getting 3,000 protestors out in front of any federal or state institution, or a series of petitions signed by more than 200 people each and lobbying with them than you will from taking down the establishment from the "inside".

-You don't like drinking - Congratulations. On what page in the hippie handbook does it say that you have to be a drinker in order to be a hippie?

-Most the problems of your peers seem trivial to you. That's fine, but, I also didn't care about who got into a fight with whom, or who was having sex with whom in high school, but I didn't and don't feel that I need to buy a pair of Chinos to realize that most teenagers are intellectually void, and are impressed by things that don't impress me in the least. I can wear ass-less chaps and come to the same conclusion.

"The whole point of this is to say that I know that clothes don't make a person, but I've transcended the style-identity thing."

Great! I guess, then, that you'll happily wear these drab black and grey clothing peices that I aquired from the communists down the street. I mean, after all, the whole "style-identity" thing is a total crisis and you've gone beyond that whole thing. No, really, I insist! You see my point? You wouldn't wear them if I offered them to you and you somehow accpted to take them. Why? Because even the "normal" dress thing is an identity. You're telling the world something about yourself with your clothing, and I guarantee that if you lived in the mountains as a hermit, style would no longer be your main concern. It's like saying someone who has lived, lives and always will live in a closet cares about what brand of clothing is covering him. He very obviously doesn't. You, however, do. Anyone who is seen by others has a perception of who they are and who they want to be to others. The 'normal' clothing thing is just your way of telling the world that you're no longer a subversive, and therefore you can now be taken seriously. Although, that's only my take, and I'm merely a psychology minor with little true experience.

"What I'm saying is, I no longer have to dress in my most unique of tastes, I'm okay with dressing in the clothes I like that aren't as rebellious." Aha! You didn't stop dressing like a hippie because you were tired of being an "exploit", you stopped dressing like a hippie so that you could start dressing less subversive. You toned it down to send a message to the world, which means that you do apparently care to an extent what people think of you, and you do, to an extent, want to send some message to the world. What I think you're trying to send is that you're now more enlightened, better educated and more experienced, and to you, formal dress signifies respectibility. I suspect that my analysis of you is fairly accurate, which means 2 things: 1:You're afraid of being considered a child all your life and B:you're more than likely experiencing symptoms of what they call "Pre-high school graduation anxiety disorder", which, after graduation becomes "post-high school graduation anxiety disorder". P.H.S.A.G.A.D basically causes the late high school student, or more commonly, the newly graduated student to go through rapid successions of identities and character roles in an attempt to cope with fears of supporting one's self in the real world, finding friends in the real world, and basically dealing with the harsh reality that they're on their own.

You could believe that I'm an idiot who's being very cruel to you right now, but that's not at all what I'm doing. I'm just telling you what I took from it. I think that you are basically just trying to tell the rest of the world that you're not some childish, decadent who is stupid and burnt out.

My take on it is, my t-shirt that is a billboard for some band, or your army-jacket, or the hippie guy's hippie sandals are not signs of immaturity, but are signs of our generation, and signs of us living as us, not as drones of expectation - people who dress the way the believe they need to to fit the mold of society. If you enjoy dressing a certain way, if you feel you're making the proper statement with your clothing (yes you're always making a statement and you're always concious), if you feel comfortable in that mode, being that person, be that person, and you'll feel perfectly fine about yourself. If you truely enjoy dressing like a corperate stiff, then do that. Or, if like TenCentArcade, you believe that clothing creates class, then wear what you feel is classiest, but me and most people I know are spending a good part of the day waiting to get out of our monkey suits. The only time I feel class or looking that classy part is necessary is when I'm invited to something formal that is on someone else's terms (basic courtesy that you don't come in an Allman brother's shirt), or when I'm trying to get a job.

{My overall point is this: A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that dressing more clean-cut, and looking like an upright citizen is going to make things in life easier on them because the "normal" people will respect them more if they dress that way. I've seen a couple of my friends go down that path. They ended up realizing that A:the only way to get respect is to be fairly intelligent and to work hard and B:that the only place they needed to dress in a button-up shirt was at work or a job interview to show minimum initiative.

Also, hippies are not stupid, immature, intellectually void or not respectable because they dress in tye-dye. A hippie is stupid, immature, intellectually void and not respectable when he does things to make himself those things. Hippies dress the way they want to dress; they do it because it's their statement, it's what they're comfortable in, and it's their life's decision. Dressing a little more 'tidy' isn't going to make anything easier on you, but if it's just truely your new statement, then make it loud and make it proud. I'm no one to tell you how to live your life. Just be yourself, and do what makes you happy and respect everyone and everything on this planet while doing it and things will work out well. By the way, whoever said you can't dress both corperate and casual? No need to throw away one style for another.}

 

Musicman, you're ponits too long to read, please summarise into a haiku.

 

MusicMan, that was fantastic.

Lodui if you haven't already you should take the time to read it, it made a lot of sense. I thought only Bug_Man needed things broken down... he's the one who hasn't finished "The Cat In The Hat" yet.

 

Bravo, Music Man, very nice!

 

heh, Lodui, you crack me up. Um, let's see

Haiku:
Clothes don't make the person
A hippie is a hippie without them
By choice, not by fashion

Haiku:
Respect is something you gain
It's not something purchased at the Gap
Inner beauty is no commodity.

How about those?

Anyway, while I'm posting again, I'd like to reiterate that I believe this woman should have the right to dress however she likes, I was just giving her my take on what she's doing, and my assumptions of her motives. Like I said, far-be-it from me to tell her what she truely believes, and we'll all still like her just fine anyway,... even if she is more straight-laced.

 

musicman - that was great! the long and the short version.

 

that's ok soulrebel, a little recreational math is good for ya. i'm thinking of writing skip, cuz i'm way too old to be a young hippie and too young to be an old hippie. i feel so left out, no group of my own to belong to jk

 

Just wanted to compliment you on your dreads..they're really very pretty. Hate to hear you're cutting them.

 

Do what you want, but I can tell you all that this isn't something that I want to outgrow.

 

You will most likely change your mind by the time you are 17 or 18. Or even 16 for that matter, like we_all_shine_on. You're still a little kid with a little kid's mind, and you cant deny that.

 

what does this have to do with being mature... i am mature enuff to take care of my family, make appointments, and do things all by myself... and I still wear torn jeans and have dead head stickers all over my car.... i woldnt call it selling out but if you feel you need to dress like a business lady to be mature you are mistaken, it is in your head not your style...​

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however if you like those clothes and thats how you want to dress go for it... i don't feel comfortable in them so i don't wear them, your still in high school right? have fun while it lasts................................. when its over you will wonder what the fuck happened.........................................​

 

i agree- i question this maturity you speak of. don't think cause you cut off your assimilationistic dreads that you're mature. hell, why'd you grow them in the first place? i have a theory about people with dreads but i won't get into it. don't think that you've matured simply by shedding your conformist hippie attire, and "lifestyle"

 

In July I turned 50. I've had the same job with the same company for 26 years. I have lived in and am paying for the same house for 17 years. I keep abreast of world issues. I vote in every general election and most primaries. I have raised a daughter and my son is a senior. I haven't had a drink of alcohol or done a drug, other than perscribed by a doctor for a specific purpose, in over 18 years.


I still wear Beatle, Grateful Dead and tie-dye shirts. Some of the ties I made myself. I have other shirts with hippie patches on them. My Levi jean jacket is covered in patches. My truck is covered in hippie stickers.

Is there a point to all this. Hell if I know!!!

 

I think we drove her off. :& I hope we didn't offend her or anything.

J- In the context that being a hippie is a "conformist" way of being rather than a life-style, being anything that isn't absolutely original, and not living your life completely differently than anyone around is doing something conformist. Sometimes you find a lifestyle you find fitting for you,... yes, other people do it and are part of it, but that doesn't mean you've "conformed", and like I said, if you want to use that word, take away the negative connotation of the word and put it in broader a context and say that making any life decision is being conformist. Buying a Ford or a Chevrolet is conforming!