Does Woodstock Still Matter 40 Years Later?
The cover stories in USA Today for 8/14 & 15 were devoted to the weekend’s 40th anniversary of Woodstock with the title “Does it Still Matter?”
Does what still matter? That 450,000 young people were brought together peacefully to the biggest rock concert the world has ever seen? Come on! It was mind and culturally altering. The articles, photos and memories invoked sighs and some tears from this 58 y/o ex-hippie-wannabe who grew up in California.
Does it matter that most of us survived this tumultuous time and still revere the 60s peace-through-music culture that still exists today? Woodstock is a demarcation point and a way of viewing the world. It sowed the seeds of tolerance, awareness and caring for an ailing planet. Never mind that we still stand on the brink of annihilation.
I find I still adhere to and yearn for the 60s ideals of peace, love and freedom. Ritchie Havens, who was the opening act at Woodstock, exemplifies the call through his soulful song, “Freedom”. “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child a long way from home...” I grieve because we’re still at war for profit, the gulf between rich and poor grows wider and it can be challenging finding peace and freedom in a crowded, materialistic and very expensive world.
Yet, we have come a long way. We have a black president in lieu of race riots and now find ourselves fighting for a public healthcare option. Then there’s healing Mother Earth and its organisms, as we slowly move from the Me generation to the We generations needing to work together to preserve and sustain. Many have matured and realize that peace, love and freedom, the anthem of Woodstock, are an inside job.
Does it still matter preserving 60s ideals? Yes, now more than ever! You could ask does history matter? Maybe or maybe not. But I feel memories and history are there to remind us of where we’ve been, what we’ve done and what we still need to do. If we’ve learned anything, hopefully we’ve learned that “All you need is Love”. Might Woodstock have been the clarion call for this movement? Maybe we’re in the midst of the next and final revolution—loving kindness and gratitude—and the rest will take care of itself.
* * * *
How do you get to simple?
A: You make a lot of money and become part of the over-class.
B: You get on social security or disability and join the under-class.
C: You transform the middle-class to being the middle way.
D. You turn your mind down to simmer and let it all be.
* * * *
5-29-09
I wept seeing the documentary “Food, Inc.” http://www.foodincmovie.com/ and what negative effects industrial farming has on animals, workers and the environment — that includes us — for the sake of cheap, fast and fattened food. CEOs, Monsanto and government officials in cahoots should be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
The bottom line should not be profit but what’s humane and respectful for all sentient beings.
See Bill Maher’s article “New Rule: Not Everything in America Has to Make a Profit” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-not-everything-i_b_244050.html
Does what still matter? That 450,000 young people were brought together peacefully to the biggest rock concert the world has ever seen? Come on! It was mind and culturally altering. The articles, photos and memories invoked sighs and some tears from this 58 y/o ex-hippie-wannabe who grew up in California.
Does it matter that most of us survived this tumultuous time and still revere the 60s peace-through-music culture that still exists today? Woodstock is a demarcation point and a way of viewing the world. It sowed the seeds of tolerance, awareness and caring for an ailing planet. Never mind that we still stand on the brink of annihilation.
I find I still adhere to and yearn for the 60s ideals of peace, love and freedom. Ritchie Havens, who was the opening act at Woodstock, exemplifies the call through his soulful song, “Freedom”. “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child a long way from home...” I grieve because we’re still at war for profit, the gulf between rich and poor grows wider and it can be challenging finding peace and freedom in a crowded, materialistic and very expensive world.
Yet, we have come a long way. We have a black president in lieu of race riots and now find ourselves fighting for a public healthcare option. Then there’s healing Mother Earth and its organisms, as we slowly move from the Me generation to the We generations needing to work together to preserve and sustain. Many have matured and realize that peace, love and freedom, the anthem of Woodstock, are an inside job.
Does it still matter preserving 60s ideals? Yes, now more than ever! You could ask does history matter? Maybe or maybe not. But I feel memories and history are there to remind us of where we’ve been, what we’ve done and what we still need to do. If we’ve learned anything, hopefully we’ve learned that “All you need is Love”. Might Woodstock have been the clarion call for this movement? Maybe we’re in the midst of the next and final revolution—loving kindness and gratitude—and the rest will take care of itself.
* * * *
How do you get to simple?
A: You make a lot of money and become part of the over-class.
B: You get on social security or disability and join the under-class.
C: You transform the middle-class to being the middle way.
D. You turn your mind down to simmer and let it all be.
* * * *
5-29-09
I wept seeing the documentary “Food, Inc.” http://www.foodincmovie.com/ and what negative effects industrial farming has on animals, workers and the environment — that includes us — for the sake of cheap, fast and fattened food. CEOs, Monsanto and government officials in cahoots should be held accountable for crimes against humanity.
The bottom line should not be profit but what’s humane and respectful for all sentient beings.
See Bill Maher’s article “New Rule: Not Everything in America Has to Make a Profit” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-not-everything-i_b_244050.html
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