I am a child of the 60’s. Hip-hugger, bell bottom jeans, bare feet, long hair flowing down my back, kind of child of the 60’s. Influenced by my older brother and sister I embraced the music, the peace-love-and-understanding philosophy, the feeling that anything was possible, that dreams could be fulfilled, and the sky was the limit. There were some things I didn’t embrace. Drugs for example. I was not a druggie – not then, anyway, but that’s a whole different blog. I never dropped acid, or smoked weed, or ate mushrooms. I didn’t need that stuff to get high. I got high on life, and music, nature, and of course, Love. That was enough for me. I was against the Vietnam War, afraid my big brother would have to ship out and that terrified me. I believed in making love, not war. I believed in respecting my parents, my teachers and those sworn to protect me. But I think what I most loved about the 60’s was the belief that humankind was basically good. That all men and women were created equal. Sure there was turmoil. Racial strife. Demonstrations against the war. Yet for the most part, all anyone really wanted was peace. It was the Age of Aquarius.

Today I sit here wondering what happened. The world is totally upside down. Everyday the news is filled with horrific stories from hit-and-run accidents – I cannot believe anybody could run someone over and just leave them – to weather-related tragedies. Terrorism is rampant, not just in some far away land, but here. Right here in our country. Our state. Our town. Our neighborhood. American citizens are turning against their own country, and hooking up with foreign terrorists, willing to die for some ideology that has them believing that our country, their country, is evil. Drug and alcohol abuse is rampant, from pre-teens to the elderly. The death toll from drug overdoses is astronomical. Especially heroin. People just cannot deal with life. So they turn on to tune out.

The idea of a brotherhood of man/woman seems to have disappeared. We are torn apart by the media. Ridiculous politics and power hungry politicians have set out to control every aspect of our lives, and will, if we don’t stop it soon. People are victims of some sort or another. Nobody wants to work for anything anymore. People expect things to be handed to them. They “deserve” it. They are entitled. Everybody has to get a trophy. Everybody has to get an “A” . No one can excel because everyone must be the same. You can’t play tag in the playground because it is too “violent”. Oh my God.  Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Where has the idea of respect disappeared to? Why does it feel like the world is slipping away?

Ok, I know there are still those of us who try to see the world as a good and kind place. But it gets harder and harder everyday. Still, I hope and pray that we can get back to what these lyrics stand for, before it’s too late.

“Harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding
No more false hoods or derisions, golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelations, and the mind’s true liberation…”