Are Hippies Just a Thing of the Past?

I'm with Varapario. I too always understood hippies to be what they are based on values. Besides, what is this thing about labels, anyhow? What if the pigs said it's illegal to be a hippy? What if they label was erased? Or what if the gubermint said that hippies were really communist swine? Would that make you and your views and values any different? Or would you still be you, and you would still be a hippy?

So in my opinion, if you wanna be a hippy, be a hippy. If you want the label, have it. It's just a word. There are no inspectors to make sure you are legitimately a hippy. There are no permits and insurances or bonds that you have to apply for and post. And since when does the opinion of others mean anything to a hippy? It doesn't to me.

I have been told by old school hippys I grew up knowing, that I was destined to be one of "them". I always thought they were nuts, maybe they had too much hash in their brownies. I didn't know. But now I do. And now, even now, some of the old school hippys tell me I'm one of them. And you know something? In my heart, I am.

So if someone here disagrees, should I be sad and mumble an apology? Hell no! I rarely grow my hair long. I don't have psychedelic posters on my walls (though I wish I did). I don't have any posters on my walls. I just never put any up. I enjoy listening to mellow rock like Fifth Dimension, Earth Wind & Fire, Friends of Distinction, Steely Dan, The Carpenters, stuff like that.

I also enjoy stuff like Michael Jackson, Prince, and Insane Clown Posse. Big deal.

Being a hippy is just being yourself. Caring for Mother Earth. Loving others even if they hate you. And just being yourself is by far the biggest.

So fuck labels.

 

the hippie thing is not a time-bound thing-past or still existing. its a spirit that one embodies.

 

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In the 60's,when I began this journey,the path was full of people that shared a similar vision. As I traveled there were others along the path so there was no need for a select hand full of friends, we were all brothers and sisters.At times it was even difficult to find any alone time,cuz there was always others around.At some point, I don't know where or when,the number of brothers and sisters dwindled into a whole lot of strange people that would only be polite for money. Everything has a price even friendship,I was told.

Today it seems that everyone is much too busy for a campfire,a road trip(hiking),or even the time it takes to listen to a joke and share a smile,or even read a post that is more that two lines long.I have never known exactly what a "hippie" is or was, but I was once hip(had understanding) of many things.As of late it seems that the older I get the dumber I become.

Though others have called me a hippie, usually while they cursed at me,I have always considered myself a "free thinker",there is no such phase such as ,"well that's the way it is, or we have always done it this way has ever swayed me from seeking a better way.So if I am a "hippie" I don't remember ever seeking such a title, in my world there are no pigeon holes for my brothers and sisters to sit in.

Oh and that path that was once fill with others laughing, playing, loving and living has became a very lonely road that only the well financed person may travel, and then only for a while,then it's back to your roost and job,lest you be counted amoung the homeless.

" going down that long lonesome highway, bound for the mountains and the byways.
one of the days I'm gonna settle down, but til I do I'll just keep roaming round."

 

Being a hippie is about peace, love and doing your own thing. It's about not getting caught in uncle Sam's trap of buying shit you don't need or normally wouldn't want.

It's about sharing what you have and not expecting anything in exchange. It's not about going to war to steal other people's stuff or make them so desperate that they would be willing to work for pennies and a piece of bread.

It's about freedom to be human. Not about trying to be more corporate than the next guy.

It's about knowing that everythig and everyone is beautiful. It's not about screaming that I need to put my clothes back on because I'm an old man with operation scars and old man breasts. Same can be said for over-weight people, etc.

So lord I hope there are still young hippies in this world. Because we really need them today and I'm just too old to push things as far as I used. The only thing I want when I leave this world is to have someone sing at my funeral while wearing flowers in their hair. And after that, as Wavy Gravey has so nicely said, " You can fuck on my grave and I'll stand up and wave."

 

:bandana: we're a fading breed, butwe are still around, slowly passing down our legacy to a small and new minority of little hippies. our voice will be heard far into the future. as the old saying goes: "old hippies don't die, they just lie low till the laughter stops and their time comes round again. paisley skye.:hippy:

 

I was a hippie before there was a label I am in my 60's and people still call me an "old hippie" I believe it is the way you live, your attitude, your peace and acceptance of all people. I fit the lifestyle in the late 60's and 70's, because it was natural and who I was, I am still a hippie, except now I'm a gypsy . Peace.

 

I heard that true hippies don't die, they just pass the bong and vegitate.

 

To say there are no more hippies is ludicrous. They may no dress the same way as 1969 but they are there. It is a mind set - a belief system. Peace, Love, Freedom, Letting others live their lives - all these are included in that belief system. I wish I was in 1969 again - but I am not. I am in 2011 and must adjust my appearance, but not my heart.
Peace Brother!!

 

You said it all. we are who we are in our hearts and the way we see the world. I don't dress in hip hugging navy jeans and skimpy tank tops, peasant dresses, barefoot, but I am all those things in the way I look at the world. I am a free spirit. peace

 

Being a hippie is not a social group that emerged in the 60-70's, but a spirit of love and freedom that lives in your heart. I was born with a personality to become a mellow hippie during the 70's. I was like a flower bud waiting for something to come by that was created for me. Whatever there is about us we will always be here until we die. I live for causes. I taught my children tolerance for all and still insist upon it. So, if I don't have on my peasant dress, dozens of necklaces/beads, barefoot/sandals, wild hair and some old picket sign, don't pass me by. I am in there in spirit. Peace/Love

 

not me, I am a full time RVer. I am still a wanderer. My husband and I sold everything and hit the road in a fifth wheel. We are sitting by a campfire, looking at the rocky mountains, or yuma, az at the desert. we are always on the move. we do stop for a few months in the summer and winter.

 

I agree. we're not a dying breed. We are still here.

 

I live in San Antonio we dont have many hippies out here but going north there are quite a few.Up in the TX hill country and in Austin for sure.

 

Another fulltime rver-lots of people I meet are kindred spirits. :sunny:

 

Have wread most of the posts on here and agree with nearly all ,but yours is a pretty short post and youve summed it up pretty acurately ...

Keep up being of nice Spirit all you people ..:sunny:

 

Though the term is sometimes used today, I think ultimately it really is something associated with another era, the late 60s to early 70s. Honestly, anybody walking around today with the characteristic 'hippie look' (long hair, peace signs, beads, etc.), and/or using hippie era expressions or doing any of a number of things that in one way or other are inspired by the late 60s Haight-Ashbury scene, regardless of their age, is doing so with a conscious desire to in some sense consciously 'roll play' the 60s.

Civil War fanatics reenact battles from the Civil War, latter day 'hippies' in their own way 'reenact' the late 60s/early 70s youth culture. I think the whole concept of 'hippie' is too intimately connected to the late 60s 'flower children' phenomenon to ever be decoupled from it.

I think young people today should do their own thing, not consciously try to emulate a long gone era. Eventually, there will probably be another generation that is memorable or distinct in their own way, and then subsequent generations may emulate them, but it will never happen by trying to relive the past. If the original hippies of the 60s were similarly obsessed with the 1920s generation there never would've been a unique 60s youth culture.

Let's face it, it's 2011; the 2060s are actually closer now than the 1960s! It's an interesting period to study and many things that make today what it is originated in the 60s and in some way live on, but there's a fine line between sweet nostalgia and an unhealthy looking back instead of forward. That's probably the biggest irony of present day hippie mimics, is that they think they're keeping the spirit of the 60s alive when in fact they couldn't be more anti-thetical to that spirit. The 60s youth culture was all about embracing NOW, trying new things, experimenting, and looking forward to tomorrow, not looking backward.

Finally, it's probably a good thing to remember that nostalgia is often blind; we often remember the past as 'sweeter' than it really was. It would be incredibly interesting to be able to travel back in time of course but I'd rather be old in the present than young in the past. Staying forever young might be a good deal but being stuck in one particular period of time would be a Kafkaesque hell!

Anyway, you should probably know I was not around in the flower power era; I speak as someone born later.

 

We are still here , some may not acknowledge where they came from, but their here nonetheless.

 

I'm a hippie , and I like to think all the posotive things I do in my life/community are very important!

 

im beginning to think there never were "hippies" everyone has an angle. all this hippie nostalgia doesnt do anyone any good. you can be the love you desire, just go out and be a genuine loving person. who cares!