I very much enjoyed your post and the comments. I did 'drop out', (of college in my junior year with full scholarship through grad school!) and lived on a commune for several years. We grew our own vegies, cut our own firewood, deliverred babies, grew and smoked our own pot, and had intense relationships based on shared ( and evolving) values. Alas the demands and responsibilities of adult life strained us and we are now scatterred far from the ideal mountain haven we once shared. Many of us remain connected, some are now part of the same families.

That was a time in my life that I will always cherish and see as much of what defines who I am. Those values are still with me as I navigate my days in a life that on the surface is vastly different. I do however remain tied to the earth through my backyard and other outdoor places I spend time in. I am outspoken socially and politically and I do vote. I strive to be as 'green' as I can and educated my daughters in that manner. I pray for peace but accept that chaos, despair and destruction are and always will be with us.

There is a great article in a recent newsweek about the sixties and who we are now as a result of those times. (It has a Peter Max theme with Nixon. M.L. King and others on the cover). Its worth the read. The flowers and tie dye were beautiful. The music and the drugs were mind alterring and expansive. There was also the fear and sorrow of losing brothers and friends in Vietnamn, watching slain idols, and the awareness of the damage done through prejudice and power.

My friends call me 'earth mother' but I have an affinity for connecting with and enjoying people much older and much younger than I. Perhaps that is partly born from my coming of age in that incredible time. I dont know. I do know that living each day with intensity, curiosity and respect for all that surrounds me is where my 'peace and love' are found.

Blessed Be,

Teri

whitemanitou,I certainly agree about the control and trust issue. We are evolving and is it me or are more people shedding their wool and starting to look above the herd?

Outlaw Bikers you gotta love them. I remember going to the drive in movies and seeing three or four Biker movies in one evening. I think a lot of people feel the urge to hang with the bad boys at some time in their life. The closes I came was joining Rolling Thunder while living in Florida. The problem with that was I was driving a ten year old Mercedes auto., never felt like I fit in, although the guys and gals were fine with it.

I always wondered what it would have been like to live in San Francisco in those beginning days of The Dead, Santana, Crosby Stills and so on.

Thanks for the peak into your past.

Cherannluv, maybe you were not so naive, just different, which is always scarier then being being the same as the mold.I believe we need the peaceful and loving to balance the angry and hateful. You know the Yin & Yang of things.

Peace out.

To fiftyspent, MiltT, whitemanitou, and all here,

I know good friends and family who were hippies back in the day, and have remained, even in THIS time and place,as peace activists, assisting the poor, Peace Corps volunteers, fighting to protect our earth, by living as green as possible, and so on. Yes, you could call some of the original hippies, fake, and also say that many traded their free-spirit values for more shallow ones. I do remember the hip, cool older beatniks, and Keroac's wild road-trip tales, and Tom Wolfe's book, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test", which chronicled some of their mind-blowing odysseys.

On another note, to MiltT: What an unforgetable opportunity, meeting JFK ! As President, he was an enormous icon and inspiration, to me and my family, and many of his words rang true then, and into the milleneum and beyond. I was sitting in my 8th gr. History class, when our principal came over the PA system loudspeaker, told us that our President, JFK, had been critically injured, and to pray for him and his family. I will NEVER forget such a terrible loss, nor such a profound, world-changing President.

Right on D2, but there is no reason for you to be upset. I don't believe it to be selling out. Life goes on. As long as you can use that internal education to help make decisions, All is well.

That is exactly what I was getting at when I asked the initial question. You can't expect to frolic your whole life but did it help you get where you are today?

Stewart Wilde says "Life was not meant to be a struggle " I like that way of thinking and try to bring myself back when I complain or get upset.

I also help myself by listening to that great music.

Barbara,hope your having some good walks and your welcome.

Thank you Teridn, Sounds like you maintained your spirit for life and all it represents to you. Thanks for keeping an eye out in the green zone for people like me, who moan about recycling but want a cleaner environment.

I tried being with some peace activists but can't truly let down my guard. Its like being between a Bush and a hard place.

Thanks for your story.

I hear ya Disclaimer, Glad you like the music. Yes that gettin along thing keeps showing up everywhere.

Its a hurdle that would be pretty cool to jump.