HIPPIES AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

1974, originally uploaded by reddirtrose.

She asked me, "Do you think we'll always be hippies?" Pauline and I were talking about forsaking the trappings of the American dream to pursue dreams of our own. Do the two have to be mutually exclusive? Can you be artistic and live in the suburbs? Are we really hippies, anyway? Will we end up living in a tent out in the woods, spending our days painting and writing books? I don't know if I could get used to the red bugs and mosquitoes.

Soon after our conversation, I ran across this flickr photo from my birth year. Look at them. They seem to be the definitive hippie family. I wonder if they are still hippies. I wonder if their dreams came true.

Being a dreamer, I often encounter people who want to help me out by dashing my dreams to bits. They see my dreamy nature as a sign of immaturity and want me to join them in reality - that place where all your dreams are dead and you've settled for becoming somebody you never wanted to be.

That's the thing about the American dream. There's no place for individuality in it. There's no place for my dreams in it. It's a picture in the Sears catalogue - one size fits all.

I'm not sure the answer is being a hippie, but I'm not interested in being a yuppie, either. I tried that. I listened to everyone who convinced me that hard work would pay off. And after working myself to a point of mental, emotional, and financial exhaustion, that tent in the woods is looking mighty comfy right about now - even with the bugs.

Christianity has to tie into this discussion somewhere. But I'm confused about how. I'm not asking for advice; I'm just trying to be honest about where I am. I know that I'm tired of letting other Christians tell me what to do and who to be. I want Jesus to do that for a change.