May 13, 2009

• We don't need labels. We are not jelly!

  One young person commented on my Hippie Flowers picture that he was a hippie.
  

  Having grown up in the 60s, and having read his idea of why he thought he was a hippie, I thought I'd let him know that while he knew about hippies, he really wasn't one. He had simply adopted a label that he liked.

  Below is something I wrote to him, but then I realized that it could apply to all of us. So I posted it in my journal

  I think one's identity should come from a deeper source than a label. I never fit in anywhere. I still don't. People called me a hippie when I was young. I never called myself one. I called myself a freak -- but I meant it in a good way. I was always very different from everyone else, not because I was trying to be different, but because I actually WAS different. I simply did not think like the people around me. I have no idea why. It continues to this day.

  You may like anime and a lot of things that are very much a part of your current day culture. Some of the things you may not like -- such as certain genres of music. One does not need a label to define oneself.

  Myself, I like rap. I love 2pac. To me 2pac is the origin of rap. There are many rappers that are just stuck on themselves, but some are deep, and some truly have a message. Dead Prez is definitely a message bringer. Some of the stuff I like is definitely older -- LL Cooljay, Nelly -- and some is not even from the US, I like the song Gangster Moderne by MC Solaar.

  I also love heavy metal -- from Black Sabbath to Otep, there are many many metal bands that I enjoy. 40 below summer, Mushroomhead, messhuga, Il Nino, Slipknot, Godsmack, Skindred, Machine Head, StaticX,Powerman 5000, Rob Zombie, Rammstein, Metallica and many many many other metal groups.Most 57-year-old mothers my age do not enjoy this kind of music.

  But I also like country (which I hated up until I was 50 and one of my students who was a metalhead showed me how to like it). Besides country, there are other types of music that I like. I like Lifehouse, The Calling, Vast (a really really great individual from Austin. You should check out Vast [link]). I like literally hundreds of genres of music. I love bluegrass and folk.

  My four kids and I have learned so much together, including a deep appreciation of music. Now my youngest child is 15 and starting college next year. We homeschooled, but not in the traditional way, because I homeschooled many other people's children also. I founded a school for character and true learning.

  Being different means being yourself and standing strong on your own. You don't do things because other people approve of you -- you do them because you truly like them.

  You become strong and clear. You do things for your own reasons. You dont worry about what other people say. In 10 years time, they will just be beginning to discover who they are. Some may not even do it until they are 50.

  That has been my path my whole life, and my children are the same. They are very independent individuals and don't follow the herd. We are not conformists. It is tough to be independent, but it makes you a more whole person. You are not dependent on the approval of others for your decisions and actions. You stand on your own convictions and do what you believe in because it is right, not because it is popular.

  So life has taught me there are no simple answers, and that labels are seldom adequate unless they are on jars of jelly.

  With that, I'm going to go get a cup of coffee. Find your true self -- it won't be in a label. It will be in your heart.

  • 6:49 pm
  • 1 Comment