Did you have a simple time in your life? Where anything was possible. You were free, unencumbered by worry and fear? Living in the moment? Passionate, loving and finding your own path? Can you regain your hippie soul?
Was this the time?
Perhaps way back in high school, or your early college years. Maybe the freedom was transitory, or an illusion. But no! It was real, you felt the joy and freedom down deep.
Me and you and a dog named Boo
Travellin’ and livin’ off the land
Me and you and a dog named Boo
How I love being a free man
How long could you keep it? I knew a free spirit in college. After graduation she moved to Hawaii, lived on a boat and and became a scuba instructor. Forty years later, she is still there. Owns a few boats now. Maybe she is that rare person who never lost her hippie soul. But for most of us, it ended much too soon.
Was this when you lost it?
First job after college. Corporations are not in the business of allowing you to keep your hippie soul. Indoctrination. Brain washing. Buying in to the corporate culture. Your introduction to fear. Long joyless hours. Day after day, your freedom became only a distant memory.
Marriage, babies, mortgage, your life was no longer your own. The “real world”, you lost yourself in this new structured world. More fear. Weighty responsibilities.
Welcome to the grand illusion.
America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon we’ll stop to ponder what on earth’s this spell we’re under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are
Your freedom vanished. Compromises. Responsibilities. Sacrificing for your family. Worthy? Absolutely… but still. Once in a lifetime. Your lifetime.
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”
Did you not see the possibilities?
And did you still stay after your family was raised and gone? Still living in fear? Completely chained to the culture that killed your hippie soul so many years ago? More money. Keep up with your coworkers. Never enough. You gave your life for your family, now staying chained to work to give them more possessions . Call it inter-generational wealth. Who made that rule! Instead of finally claiming some freedom, simplicity, creativity and passion in the time you have left. You would be bored anyway. Retire? Never! How can a slave for so long seize freedom?
A new seed sprouts
That was me! I absolutely lost my hippie soul. So did my wife. Buried in an unmarked grave, back in the 70’s. Do we regret it? No. We raised four children to be beautiful adults. With children of their own.
Our youngest was always our “wild child”. The hippie soul has always been strong in her. One day, we were visiting her on a beach where she lived. She encouraged us to put ourselves first after all these years. But I said, “No, I will be dead or work till at least 70.”
And yet I thought about it later. My wife and I discussed. What if there was a way? Walk away from my work-hell. Sell our possessions. Minimalize. Regain what was lost.
Change our lifestyle. Develop a Plan. Run the numbers over and over. Show it to a couple trusted friends. Wait! This would work!
“He not busy being born is busy dying”
Bob Dylan had it right. Shouldn’t the quality of your life be more important than the quality of your death? Or as Hunter S Thompson wrote:
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!
Just how much money do you need before you are willing to embark on that ride?
But I am scared of [insert here] … running out of money, not leaving enough to my kids, not keeping up financially with my neighbors, being bored, losing my work status, losing my only identity.
By all means, die for the above if that is more important than your hippie soul.
Those who love me
Thankfully my wife was all in. Three of my four kids supported the idea from the start. The fourth came around eventually. “It is time you and mom put yourselves first for once.”
It was the most audacious accomplishment of our lives. In 200 days, I quit my job, we sold our last house, gave away our possessions, and moved to a beach community. The day I turned 60.
One. Last. Chance.
When I think of all the worries that people seem to find
And how they’re in a hurry to complicate their minds
By chasing after money and dreams that can’t come true
I’m glad that we are different, we’ve better things to do
When others plan their future, I’m busy loving you
What hippie soul looks like
It is now five years later. Have I saved my soul?
First, spending quality and quantity time with my wife. The love of my life that married me 42 years ago. Way too many 16 hour days for decades. The stress now completely gone.
Living free. Can’t overemphasize this. I do what I want. Not selfishly, but within the context of a free heart. No longer having to make sad compromises. What should we do today? Stay on a beach, stroll the boardwalk, play with the grandkids, ride the trails, spur of the moment road trip, watch the woeful Royals (mlb, not the brits), cheer on the Chiefs to another win, play with the dog, visit with friends, read, write, even watch some TV.
You’d be surprised, there’s so much to be done.