And here's my response (sorry it's so lengthy):
Heya!
Ohhhh boy – this is going to be a long letter![....]
Listen, if you want to be a hippie, that's great. The great thing about being a hippie is that there are really no rules. MOST hippies do a lot of things, but not ALL hippies do them. I mean, I (unfortunately) don't own a single pair of bellbottoms. I don't do drugs. I don't know any Grateful Dead songs. I'm not even a vegetarian (although I may be one day...)[Note: I am now...]. There are a lot of stereotypes about hippies, but you don't have to follow them.
I, and most of the other hippies I know, seem to pretty much have the idea that the only main requirement is that you have to believe in the ideology. You know, stuff like PEACE and LOVE. Most hippies are very environmentally conscious. Tolerance & acceptance are a big thing. Some hippies are major activists, some aren't. Some live back in the woods & grow their own vegetables, some live in little studio apartments and smoke pot. Some listen to the Beatles or the Dead or Joplin or Hendrix or Simon & Garfunkel or any other "traditional hippie" 60's music. Some listen to whatever's on the radio today. Or what was playing in the 70's or the 80's...or the 50's or the 20's or whatever else they feel like.[....]
Drugs are a big thing. A lot of people think that all hippies smoke pot or drop acid. I don't, and most of the hippies I know don't, even the hippies that were hippies in the 60's. Drugs are not mandatory for being a hippie.
Clothes are another thing. Personally, I love the hippie look. You know, love beads, bellbottoms or regular jeans, anything with bell sleeves, paisleys, tie-dye, bright colors, psychedelic patterns, swirls, stuff like that. I love that. Not ALL hippies dress like that, though. 'Cause it doesn't really matter, man, you know?
That's another thing – slang. I embraced 60's slang with a passion. I say things like "groovy," "man," "fab," "psychedelic," "far out," and other verbal relics from the 60's, without even thinking about it. Lots of hippies don't, however.
Anyway...the basic idea is this, and this is pretty much what I always say: All the external stuff doesn't matter. Being a hippie has nothing to do with where you live, how you dress, what slang you use, the amount of drugs you take, or what music you listen to. It's all in the attitude, baby. ;D What really matters is how you look at life, and your philosophy & ideology of life.
Okay, listen. Here are websites you have to check out. The not-very-in-depth explanation of hippyism that I wrote is [here].
You MUST go to [Hippy Land Hippie Magazine]. They're the absolute grooviest hippie site. They have a really good explanation of hippyism called Way of the Hippie[...]. They have a groovy chat room, too!!! I've made a couple of friends there. They've also got a Hippyland Glossary of hippie terms, but for a really FAB hippie dictionary, go to the Hip Dictionary [...] at The Wild Bohemian Home Page[...]. The WBHP has TONS of extremely awesome stuff on it, and TONS of information on hippies, especially the really famous people of the 60's. There are a bunch of other groovy pages, like the Rainbow Family, but those two are probably the best to start off with. I bet you'd like the Rainbow Family, though, so I'll give you the URL for it, too. It's [here] or [here] – they both go to the same page. I consider myself Rainbow, even though I have yet to go to a Gathering. They're cool people.
> [....] "Because usually, i have very strong views about things...and well, I just ramble on and on! Oh well!"
Having strong views is good! And to tell you the truth, just about every hippie I know has strong views. :) So don't worry about it.[....]
~PEACE! Pass it on!~
Love & brown rice for everybody!
~Hippiechick*
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