Wednesday, August 14, 2013

We Need More Than Just 3 Days of Peace & Music!


So, it is August and the end of summer is fast approaching... which brings to mind Woodstock and the question, where is the universal Peace & Love that was dreamed of, hoped for, and idealized at Woodstock back in 1969.

Watching the Director's Cut of Woodstock recently I was amazed to see a different Woodstock than what was portrayed in the original version.

On one hand, the drug use that seemed to be only hinted at in the original version was much more fully documented in the Director's Cut - you could just imagine the vast numbers of brain cells that were lost during those 3 Days of Peace & Music.

On the other hand, there seemed to be more interviews than I remember with idealistic flower children telling of a Utopian world free of war, hatred, and greed that they were ushering in to existence at that very moment

I don't think that the drugs were a positive thing, but where have all of those idealistic flower children gone?

Whether or not you were actually at Woodstock or just experienced  it through film, everyone who identifies with the Woodstock Generation and all of those idealistic flower children struggles with the fact that after the music fades the realities of life begin to set in. Food, shelter, clothing - the basic needs of life that can't be neglected, along with the demands of work and family that must be attended to, all begin to compete for our focus and energy.

But, that doesn't mean our dream of a peaceful world should end or that our efforts to create that world should be abandoned. Where have all the flower children gone? Maybe we should be asking where are the new flower children? Do our children and our grandchildren value peace the way we did in our idealistic youth?

I believe the answer is yes and with the tools of the internet and social media there are possibilities that underground newspapers could only accomplish on a smaller more local level back in 1969.

Keep the dream alive!

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." ~Jesus (Matthew 5:9)

Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)

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