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They say blonds have more fun, but I’d have to argue that modern day hippies do!  Modern day hippies, what is that?  Modern day hippies are those living green.  It’s their way of expressing love towards our planet and one another with a primary focus on reducing one’s carbon footprint, managing waste, and embracing green living in decision making.

Carrying the 60′s style forward, modern day hippies are excelling at eco math; they demonstrate exemplary qualities of kindness, generosity and willingness; and, they have a discerning eye for saving green.  Fun is their approach to life.  It’s an innovative lifestyle; one that dictates awareness for new and efficient ways of doing things.  It’s discovery of eco awareness in its many facets.  It’s sharing.  It’s connecting.  That is fun!

If you think about it, everything we do everyday has an impact on our planet and more and more folks are waking up to the idea that living green is the way to go.

Families go green for their children because:

• It saves money
• Living with eco awareness protects the planet for future generations
• It’s the right thing to do
• It teaches participation in neighborhood or community eco awareness
• It feels good
• Living a sustainable lifestyle is healthier; investing in your body means less toxins and less illness
• It’s an opportunity to reconnect with local community
• It’s easy to go green now because there are more options and alternatives available

You don’t have to be a fanatic to live green.  In fact, if you think about your life now, there are probably many eco actions that you are already taking.  Living green is not an all or nothing approach; there isn’t only one way to do it. Discovering for yourself what is cool and exciting about it is what keeps the hippie vibe long lasting. Looking to get your modern day hippie groove on?  Check out these resources:

• Hippie Limo – Cruise in Hippie Style
• Modern Hippie Mag -  subscribe to Modern Hippie Mag daily updates and weekly newsletter for articles, videos, radio interviews and all around inspiration on how you can live a sustainable lifestyle.
• Modern Hippie TV – watch original webshows from modern hippies the world over!

Hippies Have More Fun! republished with permission.

Julie

Julie Urlaub is Founder & Managing Partner of Taiga Company, a sustainability consulting firm located in Houston, Texas dedicated to accelerating the integration of sustainability concepts in business. Today, Julie speaks, writes, and advises clients on a variety of issues related to the intersection between environmental stewardship, and sustainable business practices. Her writing has been featured in SocialYell’s Corporate Advice, the GreenEcomonyPost, the Business Exchange and, the ThinkGreenAlliance. Connect with Taiga Company on Facebook and Twitter. Also Find Julie on LinkedIn.

Hippies Have More Fun! is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

There is so much of life that we shirk from out of fear. There is so much we avoid and turn away from. However, through the very practice of facing our fears, we not only find the ability to overcome them, but to realize that there was no need to fear them in the first place.

Getting beyond that place of fear to reach the realm of understanding offers a great growth in character and substance. Getting to the point where we love what we once feared is exultant. When we reach that point where we can understand and appreciate the things we fear for allowing us to become better people and reach a higher potential than we had even imagined, we are given a great gift of clarity.

Unless we face our fears, learn to conquer them, and be thankful for the transformation they create in us, we are only able to be a glimmer of the people we are capable of. There is much that we as a people fear today. We fear progress. We fear change. We fear breaking beyond the status quo. May we rise to challenge that is before us to become greater not only as individuals, but as a community.

Photo courtesy of Pixdaus

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Your Daily Groove – Loving Fear is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

In all of the work that we do, it is not so much what we do, but the manner in which we do it. Some of the most seemingly commonplace tasks can become works of nobility if we only do them with a glad heart of service. Although the effects of some of the work that we do may not last as long as others, the way they affect our character can be eternal.

Of all the tasks I have accomplished today, I am not sure which one brought me the most joy. For each was done in the present moment in the assurance that it was the most important thing I could possibly be doing at the time. From working on my blog to making stew to blowing the leaves off of the lanai, there was such an astounding sense of satisfaction not only in the completion of the task, but in the doing of it.

As you go through your routine today, take joy in the fact that you have the faculties to fulfill it. With ever endeavor you partake upon, realize that you are changing the face of creation if only ever so slightly. All that you do is worthy of your attention, and you are worthy of all that you do.

Photo courtesy of Pixdaus

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Your Daily Groove – The Joy of Work is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Nevertheless, there are many who still believe in the American Dream in its original definition. Of course, it sometimes seems that the majority of those people didn’t actually grow up here and risk life and limb to cross our borders to chase the dream for themselves. Yet for those of us who have always called this place home, our understanding of what the American Dream actually is has become somewhat nebulous. But one man has set out to see if he can find that definition once again.

Aaron Heidemann is currently halfway through his trek across America in search of the American Dream. Setting out to hitchhike through all fifty states, including Hawaii and Alaska, Aaron has already collected well over 2000 different versions of The American Dream from those he has met in the 27 states he has visited so far. He has already transcribed many of his adventures of the last eight months at http://www.americandreamorbust.com/, but because of his transient lifestyle, he has really found his niche in promoting poignant discussion through his Facebook page.

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with Aaron as he was finding shelter for the night in Austin, Texas by an abandoned building ironically for lease by McAllister and Associates Realty. This may be the longest podcast I have ever recorded, but with the breadth of topics covered from The American Dream to what it is like to hitchhike these days, it was definitely one of the most enjoyable. Until Aaron finishes his journey and compiles his writing into book form, make sure to follow him on Twitter and let him know if you can help get him from place to place and share your version of the American Dream. And of course you can always pick up a copy of my hitchhiking journey, The Rucksack Letters, which is my version of the American Dream.

After you listen to the interview, answer this question: What does the American Dream mean to you?

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

American Dream or Bust is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Although we often forget the fact based on the distinctions and separations we create, that we are truly all in this thing called life together. We may be of different colors, creeds, religions, or nationalities, but all of those variables still come together to form one humanity. It is this humanity, and indeed the life that works beyond it in the animals, plants, and even the smallest bacteria that sets this ball of spinning dirt apart from all of the others in our solar system. In this we are all One.

We have created fabulous ways to help us forget this truth, but we are creating even more ways to bring us back to it. More and more, we are realizing that we are all connected. In our day to day routines, as touch different points on this web of life, the entirety of the web shimmers with the effects of our actions, be they of love, anger, joy, or fear. Everything that we do to each other, we do to us all.

This may seem to be a daunting realization, to have so much power in our every interaction with the world. Yet if we can find the courage and compassion to see the world around us as simply an extension of ourselves, we may just be able to realize what true power is.

Photo courtesy of Pixdaus

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Your Daily Groove – We Belong to One Another is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Just as with weapons and tools, our thoughts are forged to accomplish a purpose. Just as metal is melted down, refined, and molded to harden into a new creation with a specific task so should we also sift through our thoughts, refining our collection of disparate mental images into the ideas that will help us create the life we are longing for. Once these ideas are formed, let us realize both their usefulness and their beauty as we wield them and make them come alive.

Our thoughts are an integral part of what comprise our world. Things that exist today which we so often take for granted may not have even existed a year ago, or even yesterday. When we realize the power of our thoughts, we realize the power of our own creativity.

May we choose our thoughts wisely today, allowing them to come from a source of love, of expansion, and of service to the community of which we are a part. For these are some of the greatest tools at our disposal. Let us not take them for granted, but wield them as if they are works of art and cherish them as the treasures that they are.

Photo courtesy of Pixdaus

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Your Daily Groove – Wielding Thoughts is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

The other day, we published our 1000th post here at Modern Hippie Mag. I was honored that it was another edition of Your Daily Groove, and even more so that it spoke to the idea of community that we are trying to create here. Although many in our society today aim to create our community out of a “thou shalt not” mentality, what is even more important is the “thou shalt” idea that we are trying to foster. For it is not what we don’t do that creates our lives, but what we do.

Throughout every culture and tradition known to mankind, there is a story. It has been given many names and is celebrated in many manifestations, but it is the tale of the perpetual evolution and growth of the human spirit as it realizes its true identity as a reflection and expression of the Great Creator. Just as each tradition has a name for this Creator, what is most commonly referred to as God, each story is its own unique paradigm which shows the way toward greater alignment with that Creator.

This is not about religion. It is simply the realization that we all come from an Intelligence greater than we have accumulated in our own lives, but an Intelligence that we are able to align with it. By looking at the traditions and paradigms that have been developed by our communities, we can see how we have aligned historically. We can follow these paradigms step by step, but it is by using our own creativity to understand the deeper truths hidden within that we can find our own alignment and truly help our community. It is the journey we take which leads us to our destination, not the activities we avoid.

Let’s do something magnificent today. Let’s align with that spirit of creation that brought us to be and let that light shine through.

Photo courtesy of Pixdaus

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Your Daily Groove – Do Something Good is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

In order to affect true change in the world around us, whether it be in our households, our businesses, our organizations, or our communities, we must realize that the tools to create that change are not in our hands; they are our hands. It is what we do every day with the gifts that we are given which will determine how effective we will be in creating the lives we imagine.

For any endeavor that we set out on, there will be a number of stumbling blocks. Most of these are created by our own imaginations. We allow our fears to manifest these challenges in our paths in order that we might overcome them and move beyond them. For even in those things which may seem to deter our progress, if we look at them from a different perspective, we are able to see that they are actually there to help us on our way. But it is up to us to realize the gift of perspective and realize the gift of overcoming that is awaiting us, for every challenge comes with its solution. Our task is simply to find the connection between the two. This is the Unbroken Path.

Photo courtesy of Pixdaus

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Your Daily Groove – Creating Community is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

Although we each face this world as individuals, with our own individual development, our own individual perceptions, our own individual needs, and our own individual desires, we must come to a place where we realize that we are all One. Although 7 billion individuals occupy this swirling clod of dirt, it is still but one clod of dirt. As we engage in our own development, act from our own perceptions, meet our own needs, and set our own goals, every activity we perform from thought to deed has a profound effect, although often unnoticable or unheeded, upon every other individual sharing this existence.

It is indeed true that we are many. From our variations in traditions, cultures, races, belief systems, religions, education, and even individual style, we comprise a myriad of differences that pepper the world with a literal cornucopia of solitary beings. Nevertheless, as complex as this kaleidoscope may appear to the naked eye, it is all comprised of the same stuff. Beyond the pretenses that we so often engage in and use to draw lines of separation, although we are many, we are all still One.

Photo courtesy of Pixdaus

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Your Daily Groove – You & I is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag

As children, we are always inspired by the lovers and the dreamers. But as we grow older and meet people who have given up on love and dreams, we mature to the point where our childhood idealism is not much more than a fond memory. In a similar fashion, when the first generation of hippies ceased in their celebration of life, love, peace, and harmony, and started fighting those who were mired in the mindset of war, the ideals which gave them their strength were left behind like childhood dreams. Some may say they matured beyond their youthful naiveté. Some may say they fell from the tree and rotted.

Nevertheless, even the fruits that have fallen leave seeds and the opportunity for the future growth of life. Those seeds are sprouting once again in this generation as people are gaining awareness of the growing ideals that gave the first hippie revolution such power in inciting change, if only in the hearts of disillusioned teenagers. In this generation, after the disillusionment we have witnessed, it is time for a rebirth of peace, hope, and love.

If you would like to help give water to the thirsty, please click the “donate” button below or go to charity:water.

Photo courtesy of Pixdaus

Steve

Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author, filmmaker, and the man behind Your Daily Groove at Modern Hippie Mag. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available now as a Limited Edition Advanced Copy paperback. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.

Finding the Rainbow Connection is a post from: Modern Hippie Mag