Lately I feel like I have a case of the mid-winter blues, with a hippie emphasis. It seems to me these are not good times to be a hippie. Things are not going great in this country, what with the economy and the national debt, but who do we oppose? Obama is not a great president but he's trying to clean up the mess left by the last administration and I support him. The occupy movement has united against the banks and large corporations that wrecked the economy but it appears the movement has sputtered and fragmented. At least we're seeing steps toward marijuana legalization. Just yesterday this music channel played the Woodstock movie and I turned it on with my TV hooked to my stereo, but my enjoyment of it was diminished as I kept reminding myself that all these kids in the movie who attended Woodstock are now in their 60s or dead. That plus knowing that soon after Woodstock came Altamont, the Manson murders, Kent State, and the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. I guess it's something every generation experiences, when your youth is gone comes the realization that the times you grew up in are also gone. Maybe I need to remind myself that hippies are called flower children for a reason, like flowers we bloom in spring and summer but are more dormant in fall and winter. I miss the summertime hippie festivals and I need to hang in there for a few more months. Sorry to be such a downer but I felt the need to rant.
I'm with you, man. The same thoughts have been weighing heavy on my mind throughout winter as well as the other months. It's sad as hell that we've managed to fall so downhill, but I guess we've just got to seek the spirit of the past in today's world.
its a great time to be a hippie. or have a hippie mindset. the world is a daunting place though. you should try to have a positive outlook, even in the cold dreary months. there may be no janis, or jimi, but now we have new music for our generation, new things. there are many artistic festivals, and also electronic festivals as well!
Well now, I'm in my late 60s and things are going pretty well at the moment. There are a few downers, like my wife's purse was snatched a few weeks ago and there's this and that bullshit happening, but overall... I've been going to some little woodland gatherings, rolling, tripping. I wish more older people knew about these. It's really fine. At the ones I've been going to the music usually goes from 8pm Friday to 11am Sunday. Dancing, hanging out. Opening up. People easy to meet after you've been to a few. I dig the old movies in my mind AND there's a lot of good things happening today as Babyjay says.
I have been fighting the blues but mine or more to do with health issues and trying to stay in the world for my children. I find playing music, drawing, or doing something creative helps me fight them off. Today I fought depression by building and designing a poetry page on my website using CSS and HTML tables. After that I put all my poetry in book form. It was distracting me from the Blues for many hours until I read a sad poem and started crying. I decided it was time to take a break from poetry and socialize here.
poetry is nice, perhaps you should find some happier subject matter though remember, happiness is a state of mind. sometimes we leave it, though.
Painting, listening to music, playing music, songwriting and getting out in the woods (no matter how cold it is) are good things to keep the mind busy. This time of year can be difficult.
