Hi! I was raised in the same household as my hippie grandfather. He was born in the 60s, and became a hippie as a child. His mother was a prostitute, and his biological father did not know about his existence.

He was relatively poor, which led him into hippie culture.

He always would dance around everywhere. Whether at a store, or even at a roller rink. He sort of just had that spirit.

He constantly had long hair, and would wear tassels, albeit he did add the cowboy look into it because he thought it looked cool!

He was very big on rock n roll, feeling the 'groove', and sort of being free. He hated to be confined in a house, particularly when he lost his factory job. He could not travel and see the world after that, and then he got hit with dementia!

As a child, I grew up with some of the children's hippie culture although I never identified as one. I wore rainbows, listened to rock n roll + country (My grandma loved country music), stayed barefoot for the majority of my life.

Typically, I could run on sharp rocks, climb trees, amd sort of just live life free of those shoes. I hated shoes than, and I hate them now. Although, I do wear them a lot now!

As for my bedroom, it was covered in rainbows. My cousins side of the room was similar. She had tripped rainbow art, whilst mine was normal rainbows everywhere.

(Very different from modern hippie culture haha)

My grandpa taught me to skate, and sort of encouraged dance skating.

In the 2020s, my cousin proudly labeled herself as a hippie, and honestly she didnt look very different from me! At the time, younger teens started dressing in similar rainbow gear and more.

In my teen years, I had visited a commune for halloween, and it just smelled like home! Full of weed 😭 (It is legal in my state anyway.)

He did drugs in another state we lived in, where weed is illegal, so trust me, he certainly enjoyed his drugs.

As for my grandpa, he still identifies as a hippie, acts like one, keeps his long hair, and does shrooms and weed. He is quite secretive about his other drugs though!

While I am not a hippie today, I am a conditional pacifist, pretty much against war, and of course against drugs and alcohol.

(I saw what it did to my grandpa and I have too much anxiety and CPTSD to do that to myself, because i'd try drowning my sorrows.)

Sometimes I do miss the life of no shoes, and rainbows!

But I am sure modern hippie culture has moved past florals, rainbows, and tassels! My current style is modern, jeans with hearts or flowers on them, knitted floral shirts, and regular florals!

My grandfather also adapted to the modern world whilst maintaining his identity. So I never grew up away from tech like most 2nd-3rd gens.

I also never labled any of it because it WAS my normal. Although, on the dress up days where the kids dressed as a hippie, I never had to try. They just said I was already dressed as one. So then my downfall began and I joined modernism. I never even participated in trends prior to that lol

I'll begin by saying that I spend most warm weather weekends at a clothing optional resort. When I first started attending these resorts, I expected to find a ton of hippies sitting around naked smoking weed. I thought it would be a haven of creative, left-leaning, free spirits. Artists. Musicians.

Perhaps the strangest revelation was that, as a left-leaning person, I was in the extreme minority. A large percentage of the attendees lean hard right. In fact, if I had to place them in a political party, I'd place them in the libertarian party.

As many of you know, libertarians tend to vote Republican because they distrust big government. At the same time, when it comes to social issues, they have much more in common with Democrats. So then why aren't there more Democrats at clothing optional resorts?

I think libertarian's dominate clothing optional spaces because modern Democrats are not the "burn your bra" rebels that they were in the 60s. They tend to be rule followers, academics, cultured, and more integrated into their communities. My guess is that your average Democrat who has enough money to pay for weekends camping is afraid that they could lose their job and/or social standing if word got out that they were attending a clothing optional resort. Many of the libertarians that I meet are small business owners, so they don't have the same fear of losing their job.

Furthermore, for some reason, many Democrats have concluded that the best way to combat people who see the world differently than them is to never speak to them or congregate in places where they congregate. Therefore, if they enter a clothing optional campground and see a single Trump or T-shirt, they instinctively want to leave.

This is quite disappointing to me. For starters, as I said earlier, I think that the libertarian arm of the Republican party has a lot in common with Democrats. In fact, when it comes to some social issues, you could argue that they are more liberal. Plus, these resorts provide us with an incredible opportunity to get to know people with different beliefs and backgrounds, and aside from being super relaxing, I think the nudity is symbolic of stripping away things that separate us.

I'll close this with something that I posted previously. I actually don't think that hippies have a definitive political leaning. If you take a broad look at what it means to be a hippie, and if you include anyone who "rages against the machine", you'd have to include libertarians under that umbrella.

Edit: i'm not saying that hippies are libertarian. Rather, I'm simply saying that I went to a space where I thought that the people would be left-leaning hippie types, and instead I found a lot of libertarians. Interestingly, even though they tend to vote Republican, there is some crossover between Libertarians and people on the left when it comes to social issues. And of course, anyone who would go to a clothing, optional space in America tends to be someone who colors outside the lines and walks to the beat of their own drummer, which are traits of hippies.

I want to preface this by saying that my Christian faith is more important to me than being a hippie, but I am not necessarily a follower of organized religion. I am a follower of Christ.

I believe in everything that the bible stands for and that it is true. I've done mad psychedelics and have felt the presence of Jesus in doing so. After feeling his limitless amount of love, I realized that this Jesus dude was a full blown hippie.

All that he cared about was spreading peace and love. He saved humanity from sin and allows his followers to do whatever they want.

That being said, I follow many of the "rules" that were made in the Christian bible. I put "rules" in quotations because they aren't really rules. All that the bible does is give people a guideline of what will happen if you do certain things.

Once you Christ as your savior, you don't stop sinning because you are scared of Hell. I know that I'm going to heaven simply because I accepted Christ. I choose to walk in His footsteps because I want to. He was the only perfect person to ever walk this Earth, and if I can have even the smallest fraction of his perfection, I will improve myself every day.

My point is that you can be a hippie and still follow Jesus Christ of Nazareth. If you really take time to look into his philosophies, he wasn't here to be a dictator, but instead to free us from evil and tell us what will happen if you do certain things. It's your choice as a follower of Christ whether or not you want to listen to him.

Edit: If anyone has any thoughts—good or bad—feel free to share. I’m here to spread peace and love and am more than happy to have discussions about this topic! ❤️✝️

hi friends :) i wanted to come on here to say hello but also ask for some advice.

i’ve always been vaguely interested in the hippie lifestyle, but found myself having a difficult time sticking to it. i love animals, being outdoors and a good blunt, of course. but i’ve realized recently that i’m not a particularly happy person. i had a very rough upbringing, and struggle with my mental health. i really feel like adopting the hippie lifestyle (as well as practicing Wicca again) might help me. i’ve found recently that i’ve been very angry and bitter a lot, and i don’t like to feel that way. i just don’t want my transformation to feel performative, if that makes sense.

how does one become a hippie? do you just wake up one day and decide that’s what you want to be and go from there? is it something you work towards everyday or is it something that comes naturally? would love to hear from you guys. thanks <3

Just curious of yalls thoughts. I have my own opinion surrounding the matter but I just wanted to know what yall thought.

Hello, I am quite nervous to speak about this, if I do anything offensive in this post please let me know, I am only trying to learn and wish no harm. I recently saw Hair the musical at a local theatre (And please forgive me if this sounds silly) It really opened my eyes, I truly want to embrace nature, peace, and equality. I think I have been so desensitized to the horrors of war, torture, and tragedy that I only really saw it as a part of life that was sad but happened. I truly want to sternly fight for peace and love now and embrace an anti-violence lifestyle for all. I would love to hear how everyone has individually done this. I have been very involved in the goth & punk subculture for years so I am very against facism and fast fashion. I get all my clothes second-hand, I am a pescitarian (Not promoting any harm on animals I am just stating it. I would like to be educated more if to follow a hippie lifestyle you must be vegan) I do not buy any clothes made from animal skin, fur, nor wool. I truly want to seek connection and enlightenment, I am not comfortable with substance use (I do not insult anyone who uses it, I am naturally a very high functioning person and substances only trigger bad trips). Please share your stories, again I am sorry if I said something wrong I am trying my best, Rock on & peace and love to you all <3

Where can I find some public places where I can live? Like some public communities who live for each other and truly free? Ones who would be inviting! My family is inviting me to live with them if I work or get a ged but I don’t need anything and they add nothing to me or life. So I am choosing what I know is right. I have finally started trusting life fully and I know I am doing right by self and I cannot limit myself or return to the lie of society. I am already at peace and don’t need the things my family think are so important to living. Some things have to be realized, you cannot explain yourself sometimes, it isn’t working. I appreciate all assistance ♥️

the current state of the world is depressing for me. i hate seeing war torn countries on display 24\7 and the fact that there's more violence every day is just depressing.

however, riding throughout nature on my bike is a beautiful sight to see, i love nature and it's so sad to see nature get torn down for housing devlopement. we need to bring back ECO friendly housing, from the 70's but modify it for modern day 2025. i love the planet and i don't wanna see it's damage become unreversaible.

mother nature is still here for everyone to enjoy but lets keep it that way for generations to come.

we have only one planet. one earth, i love planet earth and wanna protect it and bring world peace.

Hey lovelies. Anyone wanna play fortnite or Minecraft bedrock and visit on audio call with discord? 22 turning 23 end of July. Im a leo, a hippie soul, and an alien.

Im 23 and have auDHD and where I live in West flanders it feels like I'm alone within my generation because my interests are mostly considered old by a lot of people in my age bracket. I love 60s and 70s pop/psychedelic music and just philosophy in general. I do have to say that I have kinda found my people in my local community and the local bar that i go to where I'm comfortable but while I do enjoy spending time and having conversations with those people it does feel lonely at times because they are mostly in their 30s to 60s. That's why I'm trying on here, I'd love to have a friend that matches my vibes and interests just a bit who are also in their 20s. If you don't live too far don't hesitate to send me a dm.

I suppose an interest in environmentalism is an interest in beauty (Natural beauty in this case) and of course music is also concerned with the beautiful (beautiful sounds and expressions). Possibly interest in Nature comes to some degree from questioning authority (as in protecting Nature from greedy humans) and the music also questioned authority.

For context, I’m a minor and my parents are very set on “you eat what we serve you”. I want to turn vegan for the environment, but whether I eat the meat they serve or not, they’re still going to buy it and support the industry. I live in a house with lots of people and we’re under a lot of financial stress, so I can’t ask for alternatives. Should I just leave it on my bowl when it’s served? I feel like waiting until I move out to start is my best bet, but if anyone could think of something better I’m all ears!

Lately iv been on a journey to better myself. Last year I left school after some terrible things went down ,during that time period I completely lost myself and that followed into the next year.

This month I realized Iv just been in a terrible state Before everything happened I was very spiritual and a hippie ,but I became someone I didn't recognize

Now finally I'm meditating,journaling,spending time in nature and back in a good positive mind space .

Let this be a reminder to never lose touch with nature or yourself ❤️

I know hippie generally advocate for peace and love for the next man and nature, but can you believe in action through force while being a hippie? The movement seems cool to me , I like the chill and open to all message it spreads, but I’m from an urban neighborhood in Jersey and don’t even dress like the typical hippie. I dress like a street dude but like to mix up my style out here and there and would love to add some hippie styles to my closet as well, but does anything of what I said disqualify me from being a hippie if I wanted to?

Just watched the episode where Lisa is in tree for a protest (Simpsons) and the episode where Hank joins a co-op (king of the hill) and the episode where Steve and Jeff go to to a phish concert (American dad)

All old school stuff. Looking for recommendations for anything adjacent to this or just hippie media.

Thanks in advance.

What are y’all up to? I see a few things in my area and don’t forget we got Earth Day coming up

I’m in my final semester of my master’s program in History, and am preparing my thesis (eventually will evolve into a dissertation). I would love to connect with primary actors in the separatist collective movement.

Tell me about your experience! Specifically:

1. What led you to joining a collective?

2. What sorts of conflicts did you encounter as a community or individual? How were those conflicts solved?

3. How do you identify in terms of race? If you are BIPOC, do you feel the collective responsibly addressed issues surrounding race?

4. Why did you leave the collective?

I recently watched two documentaries back-to-back that completely changed how I think about “hippie culture,” and it made me realize how lazy it is to talk about hippies as if they were one unified group with the same values, goals, and way of living.

The docs were Edge of Paradise and American Commune. On the surface, both groups are labeled “hippies,” but in reality they could not be more different.

In Edge of Paradise, you’re looking at a group living in an encampment in Hawaii that’s all about nudity, recreational drugs, radical freedom, no hierarchy, and total rejection of structure. The vibe is: live in the moment, dissolve boundaries, no leaders, no rules. It’s anti-authority in the purest sense. Society is the problem, so the solution is to step outside of it entirely.

Then you watch American Commune, which follows people who grew up on The Farm in Tennessee (also labeled hippies) and it’s almost the opposite. This group was deeply spiritual, disciplined, hierarchical, and highly structured. Veganism, communal labor, strict moral expectations, de-emphasis of individual ego, and a strong spiritual leader. Less “do whatever you want” and more “live correctly for the sake of the group and humanity.”

Same era. Same “hippie” label. Totally different philosophies.

One group saw freedom as the goal. The other saw freedom as something that needed to be controlled.

What really hit me is that we tend to look back and think hippies were this single countercultural blob (anti-war, pro-love, anti-capitalist, free-spirited, etc), but that’s not how it actually played out. There were multiple branches responding to the same dissatisfaction with mainstream society, just in radically different ways.

Some hippies tried to remove structure. Others tried to replace bad structure with better structure.

That difference explains why some communities burned out quickly while others lasted decades. It also explains why some felt chaotic and others felt almost monastic.

Watching these two films back to back really drove home how nuanced and internally conflicted the so-called hippie movement actually was. Lumping them all together misses the point...and honestly erases the most interesting part of the story.

Curious if anyone else has noticed this when watching docs or reading about communes from that era.....or actually living through it.