Free Love

My parents were Hippies. My Dad will always correct me & say he was a beatnik. I happen to know better. Beats dress like Bohemian Goth-kids, my Dad’s a Hippie. My Mom also has a curious reaction when I say this around her. She’ll say, “Yes, I was a flower-child.” Now, she starts the sentence off w/ “Yes” but still corrects me in a subtle way. I guess the reason is because they both have seen what’s been done in the name of Hippiedom (+ what it sometimes caused them to do) & want to distance themselves from it.
Having Hippie parents exposed me to a lot of things most kids never see (hear, smell, taste & feel) growing up & I owe who I am today to that exposure. One of them was an emphasis of freedom, peace & love (yes, yes, music, Art & literature, too, but let me get to my point). The part my parents may want to distance themselves away from was what happened after 2 decades had gotten a hold of freedom, peace & love. Namely hedonism.
Freedom turned into a hatred of the government & eventually all authority. Peace turned into a shield for getting away w/ self threatening behavior. Love turned into free love, w/ all the very jealousies it wished to avoid, s.t.d.s, & arrested development in romance, intimacy & relationships. By the 80’s this was all so passé no one could avoid a retro- 50’s nerdom, which has jokers my age running around w/ split personalities. Just try having a conversation w/ us—we ride the fence or are WAY too gung- ho.
Most of my friends are Christians. Some will correct me & say, “Yes, we are a contrast society.” I guess the reason is because they’ve seen what’s been done in the name of Christendom (+ what it sometimes caused them to do) & want to distance themselves from it.