Hippies vs. Hipsters

melindabkr
Jul 7, 2023
3 min read

Updated: Jan 20, 2024

I started this blog with a few rather personal tell-all accounts from my past, but an entirely different topic came tugging at me recently. I've been wondering why wellness, and being a hippie, is so expensive. "Natural" and organic products often cost a lot of money, as well as most homeopathic services. It dawned on me that once a lifestyle requires a lot of money, it is no longer hippie. It is hipster. Unfortunately, many people get these terms mixed up. They end up give hipster recommendations to hippies or go after the wrong type. Hippies themselves are vulnerable for falling into hipster traps. People told me I would love living in Portland, Oregon, for example, because I am a hippie. What they should have told me is I’d love it if I want to become more hipster. An entirely different way of being.

I entered Portland, Oregon expecting to be surrounded by like minded spirits, as I had in Amsterdam. Instead, I was met with eccentric businesses, alternative trends, and a catchphrase that Portland is where young people go to retire. As a straight woman, I quickly realized it would be very unlikely I'd find a partner in Portland, unless my type was bearded polyamorous stoners that found a way to make money from the government by not working. I have no regrets going there- I had amazing experiences and made incredible friends. I even set the Academy written about in my trilogy there. But it wasn't a perfect fit for my personality. Most of my friends were from out of state.

To help shed light on common misconceptions, below is a list of my personal discoveries on the differences between hippies and hipsters. If it is not abundantly clear already, I am a self identified hippie. So I am biased. This piece is mainly just for fun. A bit of satire. A bit exaggerated. Enjoy.

What Being a Hippie does NOT mean (to me):

-Needing enough money to afford expensive clothes that give off a bohemian vibe

-Negligently following trends

-Avoiding having "money on your mind." This requires having enough money that you simply don't need to care about it

-Using nature as a prop for self image

-Shopping at Free People on the reg

–Buying “rustic” furniture that costs a fortune

-Refusing to wear effective deodorant to the point where you smell

-Smoking weed before doing anything

-Maintaining very expensive yoga studio memberships

-Intentionally hating on all things mainstream, because they are mainstream

-Protesting without a cause

-Not being able to “see color”

Note: I heard this statement in Portland a lot, intended as a way of treating everyone the same. The intent is good, but in practice it did not seem helpful. "Ignoring" differences doesn't negate prejudice.

Also, maybe people in Portland couldn't see color because not a lot of diversity actually exists there

-Engaging in diets that sell you on reliving the hunter-gatherer mode last enacted 2 millions years ago (I don't love how I feel on processed food, but this seems a little extra)

-Ridiculing others that don’t act like you

-Swallowing sense of self and personal boundaries to be “one with others”

-Only wanting to believe in and talk about concepts of “love and light.” Not addressing shadows

What Being a Hippie DOES mean (to me):

-Living with an eco-friendly mindset

-Enacting healthy boundaries

–An interest in the 60’s movement/counter culture

-Living for experience and travel and art, not possessions

-Getting your sense of self worth and confidence internally, rather than externally (Cue Avril Lavigne’s Complicated song)

-Acting toward others with genuine kindness and compassion

-Loving people and animals, and believing that love, in itself, is medicine

-Protesting for a cause

-Learning about (and potentially experiencing) the doors of perception

-Listening to or reading the works of people like Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Paulo Coehlo, etc. etc.

-Constantly striving to reach a higher potential/state of being

-Encouraging and appreciating emotional expression and vulnerability

-Not putting down or stepping on others to get ahead

-Recognizing that there is a lot out there that can’t be explained (cue Frozen's Into the Unknown song)

-Trusting intuition

-Believing that there is divine energy within us, and that all life forms are connected

-Valuing creativity and self expression

-Probably being a magnet for paranormal spirits (if you are a hippie, be warned. We are sometimes easy targets).

-Keeping an open mind

-Believing that nature, and time spent outside, is medicine

-Recognizing that shadow work is essential for self growth. Knowing that darkness, in and of itself, is not a negative entity. Just as “light” is not inherently positive

Conclusion: Okay, so maybe this list is just a breakdown of what it means for me to live as a self proclaimed hippie. Take it with a grain of salt!

Hippie Me: One with Nature