Life and Chronicles of the Modern Day Hippie Pt 1

As I sit here in my office writing part 1 of what I hope to be a realistic and relatable mini series of my life, I wonder - why on Earth did I think I was interesting enough to write a blog? I'm not a socialite, witty, or overly funny. I first decided to write a blog after reading so many fantastic blogs - one was about budgeting, another about cooking, another for DIY projects. Having to switch between all of these topics made me think "hey, I can write a blog and include all these topics so my readers can access everything through one source". Let me be honest, the initial excitement has worn off, and now I just think this is such a daunting task trying to up my viewers while always writing "excellent content"! Well, all I can do is be real to myself and hope and pray that there are others out there 'like me' who will find just as much pleasure in reading my blog as I do in preparing and writing it.  What does that mean, 'like me'? Well, I have been told numerous times that I am a hippie, or a granola. After some deep self reflection (and I mean deep, you know, trying to see myself through someone else's eyes), I realized holy crap, I am a hippie!

 I will start part 1 of Life and Chronicles of the Modern Day Hippie describing how and why I have come to realize that I am, in every facet possible, a modern day hippie. The first time someone implied that I was a hippie was my boss when he was describing Victoria, BC Canada. He said to me:

"You would love it there. When you go to coffee shops, on the side of the coffee mug they have like twenty things written there 'organic, free trade, we pay our farmers X amount for their coffee, recycled etc'. Everything is vegan and organic. It's a place where hippies and old people ride their bikes everywhere, you would love it."

At first I thought, okay, does he not have anything else to talk to me about? As I started telling other coworkers the story, they would laugh and say that sounds just like me. So now, I was on a mission. Why does the world think I am a hippie? What does it mean to be a hippie? I am, like I hope a lot of you are, totally and completely against "boxes". I do not like or appreciate these "boxes" that we as a society put traits and attributes into and then seal a big old label on them. For example - label: hippie, traits: poncho, long hair, wacky tabacky, vegetarian, braids, gypsy, recycle, tree hugger, free spirit etc.

I do fit some of those traits, my hair is down to my butt, I am vegetarian, I love to braid my hair. Other traits no one would ever associate with a hippie. I am a corporate woman. I work 9-5 in a high rise smack in the middle of downtown. I drive my SUV to work everyday wearing my blazers and go home to my house nestled away in a lake community. My husband (and parents) work in the oilfield. So I started thinking of the word hippie in other ways, ways that do not describe the way a person dresses or what they do in their spare time (puff puff pass). I started to think of it as a lifestyle, an energy. Now you get it right? Now you understand why everyone thinks I'm a hippie. As soon as I mention the word energy everyone's light bulbs just turned on. To me, a hippie means love and freedom and truth. I love everyone and everything (hence why I am vegetarian and pro everything); I try to always be kind despite my perma B-face. I am free to be who I am and I will always maintain that freedom throughout all aspects of my life. I will not let others define who I am supposed to be.

If you read on the home page what this blog (not just this post) is about, I ended it with saying I hope to bring out the inner hippie in all of you. By this I meant, I hope that by reading my blog whether I post about cooking, tea, crafts, or sewing, that somewhere in you a little voice not only says "I am going to try that" but follows it with "but I am going to change this part..". I want you to be creative, to find the gypsy in you and make your own way. Perhaps add a new fruit to my recipe, or change the paint color. Just do anything to make it unique to you! That's what it means to be free. Love yourself and let your inner hippie out to play!