After a trip to San Francisco and a showing of "Taking Woodstock", it's safe to say I'm in a hippy dippy kind of mood. But it got me thinking [as most things unfortunately do]. The defining concert that took place in the mud now seems to be very 'in' and 'hip'. Redistrubuted posters of the love festival are ironically being sold at consumer monstrosities such as Target, and have the same 'WTF' air to it as seeing Che Guevara on a paid for T-shirt.
But I think there's a reason why we're so much trying to surround ourselves with that time. We live in an age of technology and individualism. But while our parents were telling us how special we are, we drifted away from society. We were special, we weren't like our neighbors, our friends, our teachers; anybody. We are therefore in a sense, alone. The principle of Woodstock is what we're searching for: Finding ways to connect with love, and not in a judging matter.
Think of all your friends now, or the people you wish to associate with. There's some form of checklist criteria they met. Even if you didn't physically write it out, you know it's there: Likes animals, willing to meet up 10 at night or later, can carry a conversation etc. What if we just took people as they were? No judgment. Just as another form of the human race? It's impossible for us to imagine. We would loose our 'special-ness'.
But I want you to try this. Try to live in 'Woodstock'. [By this, I don't mean drop LOADS of acid, and have sex with anything that moves]. I mean taking in everything as an experience. We are all human beings, we all can connect. We are all equal.
Try it for a week. Love thy neighbor. I mean it, LOVE thy neighbor. Love the human experience: love your skin, your hair, your flaws, your beauty. Love the ability to walk, and breathe. To sleep and wake up again. To just be. Just be. For one week. Actively be. I'm sure it would be pretty groovy.
I'd love to hear your experiences with this mantra of just being by leaving your comments!!
"We are stardust, we are golden, and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden."
-Joni Mitchell
