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I was 9 years old during the first Summer Of Love, which took place 41 years ago. What I understood back then was that Hippies were taking over a far away city called San Francisco, doing unspeakable things in the streets. I didn’t know too many hippies back then, and the ones I did know were often the butt of unflattering jokes in my neighborhood. Still, I longed to join them, because it looked to me like they were having way more fun dancing in the streets in San Francisco than I was in my Catholic grammar school. I do remember being aware that many of the Grown-ups were afraid of the hippies, as if they carried diseases. This made them even more appealing to me – they were dangerous! I understand now what dangerous disease the Grown-ups were afraid of: Change.
Yes, the Summer of Love made it pretty clear that there was a Revolution in town, baby!
Years later, one of my friends was fond of saying that 99% of all revolutions happen within 2 blocks of one’s own home. She was amused by this concept. I’d go further and say that 100% of all true revolutions happen within one’s spirit. And so I’d like to dub this Summer 2009, as another Summer Of Love. We are smack dab in the middle of revolution, right now baby.
Recessions and down times have a way of allowing people to Get Real. Though many may curse this recession, and others are suffering and blaming their way through it, I see it as a time of great possibilities and gifts. It is a gift to be challenged, rise to that challenge, and see oneself more clearly. It is a gift to see what is truly important in life: love, relationships, creating, this beautiful planet, a healthy body. Many people I know are finding new sources of gratitude, in just being healthy and alive. Others, suddenly freed from a job they would have kept while hating it because it provided good health insurance, are finding their true calling, their passion. We are, each of us, being greatly challenged. We all signed up for this, is how I see it.
What the 60’s generation understood on some deep level, that Love is actually a very important reason to do things, continues to be a lesson for us all. It’s not that previous generations didn’t know this. It’s that Love took a step forward in importance on this planet. The challenges we face now are an even better reason to remember the lessons of Love, Forgiveness, Kindness. When I think about my dream world, the one I’d love to see someday, it has all of these qualities in abundance.
Here’s an idea: how about spending this summer working the energy of Love? I see this as beginning within, beginning the revolution within yourself with a healthy dose of self love. It is pretty hard for anyone else to hurt your feelings, invalidate, or criticize you meanly if you have decided that you rock. Self love is the new revolution, baby!
The greatest thing about loving yourself is that you are bound to find others who agree. This is because you become a peaceful healing energy to be around. It’s tough to be around haters, especially self-haters. They are spreading toxic energy with all those hate germs, like a sickness. However, when you create a beautiful environment within, it carries. You become a healing by deciding how your energy is going to be, instead of letting others decide for you. This is not only healing for your body and mind, it is terrific for your home, relationships, creativity, and just about anything else you can think of.
The Revolution is calling!
