Channeling My Inner Hippie

I am a product of the 60s when it was cool the first time around to be a hippie. My “back in style” now retro stuff is actually original. Life seemed simple then. I am sure it really wasn’t, but I had a youthful view at that point. Peace, Harmony and Love were touted throughout most lyrics on the radio. I have always had long straight, sometimes stringy hair that was usually admonished by my parents to do something with it. I was told often that I looked like a hippie. Honestly, I was really ok with that!

As an adult now, my hair is not so dark anymore. It keeps getting lighter and lighter as nature has its way with the aging process. It is still long and straight, and sometimes stringy, but more times than not, finds itself tied up neatly in a bun for a more professional appearance because that is what is expected in today’s world.

My thoughts are not really about my hair, but about the loss of youth and innocence that we as professional adults find ourselves caught up in. Life gets in the way of the freedom that youth afforded us. Daydreaming becomes lists of tasks left at the day’s end. Freedom of expression has been replaced with worry of politically correctness at every turn. Who has time to sit and listen to the wind, or watch the clouds float into animal clusters? The beaches are not safe to walk barefoot in the sand for fear of stepping on dangerous debris. Time and survival mode mentality have turned us into robotic machines it seems. We lose track of days, months and then years as they all mesh together. Where does the time go?

We often find ourselves in our own self created ruts from time to time. When we finally realize it, what did we miss? One of my favorite Eagles lyrics seems to fit in my thoughts. “You can spend all your time making money or you can spend all your love making time.” The stress that we can put on ourselves to accomplish whatever we think we need to accomplish sometimes pulls us away from our ability to just appreciate. Where did my time go, where did my calm go, where did my hippie go?

I decided today to let my hair down both figuratively and metaphorically. Instead of working through lunch, I took a walk. I let the wind blow through my unruly hair. I noticed how green the grass became almost overnight. I took a breath. I found some calm.

I am almost embarrassed to admit that I need to concentrate about attempting to relax and write, but I am sure I have struck a chord with a few people. We don’t have time, we have to make time. My goal is to slow the pace just enough to be able to see and take time to appreciate the beauty of what I have been missing. I want to feel the wind in my hair, I want to listen to the birds in the morning, I want to enjoy more of my family, I want to write every day, I want to let my hair down and channel my inner hippie!