Image credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/BCULbCYu7tJ/
The hippie culture is still very much alive on Maui. We have VW buses and beetle bugs. We have hitch hikers, people camping in bushes or sleeping on the beach. Playing soulful live music in the streets because it feels amazing to share the gift of song. People dance in the streets with drums, tambourines, guitars, flutes, piccolos and even violins. They make music with some of the strangest things.
The hippies make eye contact really well. Oh, and hugging and kissing total strangers is adorable and sweet. Cell phones are not necessary and would just get rained on or lost. Besides how can one be present and connected if walking around on the cell phone all the time.
Hippie greetings like, “Namaste,” “Blessings,” and “Aloha” echo in the streets. “Aloha” in Hawaii is spoken by non hippies as well but the hippies really embrace the word. Flower headbands and third eye jewels are totally accepted and encouraged. Grooming is not a priority. Hairy legs, unkept facial hair and hairy pits are common and those are just the bits we can see. It is the real deal here. Dreadlocks of various lengths and colors. Living a natural life simply looks inviting.
Image credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/-o2l2WO7s8/
Becoming Ultra Spiritual is something to strive for. Reaching this level of enlightenment is occasionally aided by hallucinogens or cannabis. The hippies are happy, friendly, and positively upbeat. I have never seen a true hippie involved in a fight or drunk and stupid making a scene.
We have hippies of all ages. Some have been hippies for a long long time and some are new to ways of hippiedom. They are almost all vegetarian or vegan, few eat fish. They stand for something. They protest things that need to be protested, they do it peacefully. They are bendy and fit, they eat healthy food and they eat in moderation. They meditate, dance and do yoga. Sounds good to me.