Coming Full Circle: Hippies Embraced Healthier Lifestyles We Talk About Now
A hippie at heart, growing up I questioned everything searching for truth and honesty. Reflecting on how people practiced their individual religions, I wondered if we were really all that different. I didn’t think so. After all, my best friend Camille was Catholic, and I was Jewish, and we were inseparable. I believed if we could just be true to our own honesty, we would find the same truth in each other and live it together.
Families can be pretty insular in focusing on their own traditions and beliefs, often thinking theirs is the only or best way. So, despite growing up in New York City, I didn’t know a lot about others’ beliefs. This only ignited my desire to learn and question more, eventually believing that the highest truth for me revolved around finding love and brotherhood with my fellow humans. I was, essentially, a hippie.
According to Merriam-Webster.com, hippies experimented with communal or cooperative living arrangements, and often adopted vegetarian diets based on unprocessed foods and practiced holistic medicine. Known for their unique style, they favored long hair and casual, often unconventional, dress, sometimes in psychedelic colors.
So, here we are today, talking about intentional communities, adopting whole food plant-based diets, denouncing unprocessed foods, and integrating practices like meditation, acupuncture, and mindfulness into mainstream medicine. We are also talking about the importance of loving one another, respecting and living with our differences, taking better care of the earth, and ensuring that people have equal access to healthcare.
I think I have come full circle. I believe it is time to do more than talk about and instead start practicing these values so that we can all be healthier and happier. I want peace on earth, and believe the destruction we are seeing in Ukraine destroys us all. I believe we have to fight for what we know will make life better for all of us.
Happy May and Mother’s Day!
