u/BumblingBarefoot

I watched Commune yesterday. As far as I know, the only place it is streaming in the United States is Kanopy, which is the free streaming service you can access with a library card.

I really liked this documentary. It's about Black Bear Ranch, a rare surviving 1960s California commune (currently very small) founded on ‘Free Land for Free People.’ It blends raw archival footage with honest takes to show the highs and hard lessons of trying to build a utopia. If you are looking for an inspirational look at the possibilities of intentional communities and communal living, you'll find it in this movie. But you'll also get a good look at why these communities are so hard to sustain. I like when movies give both views.

The movie also showed how diverse hippies were in terms of interests and beliefs. You saw that in an individual level as they focused on different members of the community, but you also saw it from a wider angle when they discuss how the group was infiltrated (or blended with) outside groups, such as a cult.

Also, I enjoyed seeing how some of the things we nostalgically associate with hippies (like "free love") weren't as simple as some think. In my own life, I've met a bunch of people who you might consider to be "free love" advocates (polyamorous couples, swingers), and it is usually more complicated than the stereotypical hippie ideal suggests. The reason why communes didn't take off is largely due to the fact that living, working, and sharing in such close quarters is hard.

My lingering question after watching this documentary and others is, "What political philosophies were most prevalent among hippies, particularly those living in community?" It seems like there were a bunch of political philosophies mixing within the community. It seems like you'd see a range of leanings from communists/socialists to anarchists, and a bunch of what we might call Libertarians today. These documentaries focus on people who believe in the power of everyday people to change the political system, down to people who just want to "drop out" of our political system. It's pretty cool.

I've seen most of the hippie-related documentaries on the major streaming platforms that I have, so I downloaded the Kanopy app. If you are in the United States, the app allows you to "rent" free movies with your library card. I was surprised to see that it had a nice little selection of movies that members of this subreddit might enjoy. I currently have 15 movies on my Kanopy watchlist.

Note: I should add that I consider documentaries about yoga, gurus, meditation, psychedelics and cults to be "hippie adjacent." If you don't, you might not find as many of their offerings to be intriguing.

I've seen most of the hippie-related documentaries on the major streaming platforms, so I downloaded the Kanopy app. If you are in the United States, the app allows you to "rent" free movies with your library card. I was surprised to see that it had a nice little selection of movies that members of this subreddit might enjoy. I currently have 15 movies on my Kanopy watchlist.

Note: I should add that I consider documentaries about yoga, gurus, meditation, psychedelics and cults to be "hippie adjacent." If you don't, you might not find as many of their offerings to be intriguing.

I watched this documentary on Tubi yesterday. It was solid. It tells the story of two communes in New England that were founded by some activist journalists. It has a bit of everything you might expect from reading my intro. They escaped society but got pulled back in when a nuclear reactor was going to be built down the road. But before that, they were doing typical commune stuff (farming, cooking...and frolicking naked).

I like when documentaries give you the complete picture of commune life. For example, while many people idealize the "free love" stereotype of hippie life, they admit that it often resulted in jealousy and hurt feelings. The documentary showed how fractured a group can be, even when they formed with common ideological beliefs.

The concept of a commune is very appealing to me. But the more you dig into it, the more you realize how challenging it is to make one work long term.

I love Googling the people who are in these documentaries. Several are still doing cool things in the community.

I love things like drum circles, sound baths, stargazing, meditation, and other things of that nature. What do you recommend?

Maybe attempts to determine what it means to be a modern day hippie are challenging because society's image of a hippie will always be focused on the Woodstock stereotype. And maybe that's ok.

Perhaps what we need is an umbrella term to describe anyone who is part of the counter culture, with offshoots of that term for the various groups (van life people, vegans, nudists, environmentalists, burners, yoga practitioners, homesteaders etc). It seems like hippies have splintered off into so many cool and interesting groups, with each having some cross-over, but each also having its own defining characteristics.

I spend my weekends at a clothing optional campground. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how my naturist friends are modern day hippies. Yet maybe I'm thinking about it wrong. Instead of trying to shoehorn them under the hippie banner, I should simply honor them as naturists and view them as their own branch of the counter culture tree.

There's a lot of "Am I a hippie" posts, and I think the confusion stems from the belief that there is a checklist out there. I've posted this before, but I think there were a ton of 1960s hippies who actually had very little in common with one another, and perhaps some major areas of disagreement.

No single person embodied everything in hippie culture. it was an array of things, with built-in contradictions and diversity. I started putting together a list of all things that I could think of that would make someone a hippie and fed it into AI to refine and organize. Here it is...

Core Mindset & Values
• Peace & love
• Anti-establishment / questioning “the Man”
• Radical autonomy & personal freedom
• Nonviolence & pacifism
• Rejection of materialism / anti-consumerism
• Authenticity over social performance
• Sexual liberation (“free love”)
• Anti-Vietnam War / anti-draft
• Back-to-nature & ecological awareness

Lifestyle & Practices
• Dropping out / quitting the rat race
• Communal living & intentional communities
• Hitchhiking, van life & nomadic travel
• Music festivals
• Be-Ins
• Organic, vegetarian & macrobiotic diets
• Holistic medicine, herbalism & DIY culture (weaving, repair, etc.)
• Free stores & mutual aid (Diggers)
• Urban crash pads vs. rural homesteading
• Small head shops or artisan businesses

Fashion & Appearance
• Long hair & natural textures
• Beards & natural grooming
• Bell-bottoms, denim & military surplus (worn ironically)
• Tie-dye, vibrant psychedelic patterns
• Peasant blouses, dashikis, kaftans
• Beads, headbands, bells & flowers
• Thrifted, patched or handmade
• Unisex clothing & blurring gender lines
• And sometimes...no clothing

Consciousness & Spirituality
• Psychedelics (LSD, mushrooms, peyote)
• Cannabis
• Eastern philosophy (Zen, Hinduism, etc.) & yoga
• Jesus People / Street Christians
• Astrology, tarot & mysticism
• Human Potential movement & “vibes”

Political & Activist Variations
• Peace marches, draft card burning
• Civil rights solidarity
• Guerrilla theater & satire (Yippies)
• Anarchist, socialist or libertarian leans
• Underground press & environmentalism

Subgroups
• Trust-fund hippies (middle-class with safety net)
• Street freaks (impoverished urban nomads)
• Weekend warriors (part-time)
• Back-to-the-landers (serious farmers)
• Visionaries / Beat leftovers
• Tech-heads / tool-builders (niche)
• Plastic hippies (mostly fashion)

Takeaway: One person could be a straight-edge political activist with long hair; another a nomadic mystic who avoided politics entirely. Both were “hippies.” The movement thrived on that variation.

There's a lot of "Am I a hippie" posts, and I think the confusion stems from the belief that there is a checklist out there. I've posted this before, but I think there were a ton of 1960s hippies who actually had very little in common with one another, and perhaps some major areas of disagreement.

No single person embodied everything in hippie culture. it was an array of things, with built-in contradictions and diversity. I started putting together a list of all things that I could think of that would make someone a hippie and fed it into AI to refine and organize. Here it is...

Core Mindset & Values
• Peace & love
• Anti-establishment / questioning “the Man”
• Radical autonomy & personal freedom
• Nonviolence & pacifism
• Rejection of materialism / anti-consumerism
• Authenticity over social performance
• Sexual liberation (“free love”)
• Anti-Vietnam War / anti-draft
• Back-to-nature & ecological awareness

Lifestyle & Practices
• Dropping out / quitting the rat race
• Communal living & intentional communities
• Hitchhiking, van life & nomadic travel
• Music festivals
• Be-Ins
• Organic, vegetarian & macrobiotic diets
• Holistic medicine, herbalism & DIY culture (weaving, repair, etc.)
• Free stores & mutual aid (Diggers)
• Urban crash pads vs. rural homesteading
• Small head shops or artisan businesses

Fashion & Appearance
• Long hair & natural textures
• Beards & natural grooming
• Bell-bottoms, denim & military surplus (worn ironically)
• Tie-dye, vibrant psychedelic patterns
• Peasant blouses, dashikis, kaftans
• Beads, headbands, bells & flowers
• Thrifted, patched or handmade
• Unisex clothing & blurring gender lines

Consciousness & Spirituality
• Psychedelics (LSD, mushrooms, peyote)
• Cannabis
• Eastern philosophy (Zen, Hinduism, etc.) & yoga
• Jesus People / Street Christians
• Astrology, tarot & mysticism
• Human Potential movement & “vibes”

Political & Activist Variations
• Peace marches, draft card burning
• Civil rights solidarity
• Guerrilla theater & satire (Yippies)
• Anarchist, socialist or libertarian leans
• Underground press & environmentalism

Subgroups & Diversity
• Trust-fund hippies (middle-class with safety net)
• Street freaks (impoverished urban nomads)
• Weekend warriors (part-time)
• Back-to-the-landers (serious farmers)
• Visionaries / Beat leftovers
• Tech-heads / tool-builders (niche)
• Plastic hippies (mostly fashion)

Takeaway: One person could be a straight-edge political activist with long hair; another a nomadic mystic who avoided politics entirely. Both were “hippies.” The movement thrived on that variation.

Hey everyone!

I’m reaching out to all djembe players, percussionists, and flow artists (poi, hoop, staff, fire—all of it!) who want to be part of something pretty magical this summer.

There is a big drum circle happening on Friday, July 24, at Sunny Rest Resort in Palmerton, PA. If you’ve never been, it’s a cool spot, and for this hippie themed weekend, there will be over 1,000 folks camping and visiting. The energy is always incredible, but it would be even better with more rhythm and more light.

The Details:

When: Friday, July 24, 8:30pm

• Where: Sunny Rest Resort, Palmerton, PA (in the area called "Tent City")

• What to bring: Djembes, rattles, shakers, or your flow toys! If you don't have any, don't worry - there's always extras!

• The Vibe: High energy, communal, and very welcoming.

• The Cost: If you arrive after 5pm, you don't pay the day visit fee. Rather, you pay $35, which gives you a card that can be used for $35 worth of food and drink at the bar, restaurant, or snack bar.

A Quick Heads-Up:

Sunny Rest is a "clothing-optional" resort. You don't have to be nude to participate (except in the pool area, where it is required), but you should definitely be body-positive and comfortable in that environment! Most people are clothed for the drum circle, with many dressed for the hippie theme.

This is part of a full weekend of fun. If you arrive early on Friday, stop down to the bar for an open mic. On Saturday, there will be a pool party with a DJ, yoga, water volleyball, hippie themed vendors, pickleball, and a nighttime DJ party. On Sunday, there will be live music poolside and over 30 teams competing in a cornhole tournament. There's a little hiking trail if you want to escape to the woods. You can set up a tent in several designated areas around the campground, or just show up for the drum circle.

The campground is located in the Pocono mountains, a few miles from the Appalachian Trail. The campground is a frequent stop for thru hikers. If interested, there are plenty of nature-related things you can do while in the area (hiking, white water rafting, mountain biking and more).

I am not associated with the campground or the event organizers. I’m just a regular who loves this event and wants to see the circle grow with some talented new faces.

Hey everyone!

I’m reaching out to all djembe players, percussionists, and flow artists (poi, hoop, staff, fire—all of it!) who want to be part of something pretty magical this summer.

There is a big drum circle happening on Friday, July 24, at Sunny Rest Resort in Palmerton, PA. If you’ve never been, it’s a cool spot, and for this hippie themed weekend, there will be over 1,000 folks camping and visiting. The energy is always incredible, but it would be even better with more rhythm and more light.

The Details:

When: Friday, July 24, 8:30pm

• Where: Sunny Rest Resort, Palmerton, PA (in the area called "Tent City")

• What to bring: Djembes, rattles, shakers, or your flow toys! If you don't have any, don't worry - there's always extras!

• The Vibe: High energy, communal, and very welcoming.

• The Cost: If you arrive after 5pm, you don't pay the day visit fee. Rather, you pay $35, which gives you a card that can be used for $35 worth of food and drink at the bar, restaurant, or snack bar.

A Quick Heads-Up:

Sunny Rest is a "clothing-optional" resort. You don't have to be nude to participate (except in the pool area, where it is required), but you should definitely be body-positive and comfortable in that environment! Most people are clothed for the drum circle, with many dressed for the hippie theme.

This is part of a full weekend of fun. If you arrive early on Friday, stop down to the bar for an open mic. On Saturday, there will be a pool party with a DJ, yoga, water volleyball, hippie themed vendors, pickleball, and a nighttime DJ party. On Sunday, there will be live music poolside and over 30 teams competing in a cornhole tournament. There's a little hiking trail if you want to escape to the woods. You can set up a tent in several designated areas around the campground, or just show up for the drum circle.

I am not associated with the campground or the event organizers. I’m just a regular who loves this event and wants to see the circle grow with some talented new faces.

Hey everyone!

I’m reaching out to all djembe players, percussionists, and flow artists (poi, hoop, staff, fire—all of it!) who want to be part of something pretty magical this summer.

There is a big drum circle happening on Friday, July 24, at Sunny Rest Resort in Palmerton, PA. If you’ve never been, it’s a cool spot, and for this hippie themed weekend, there will be over 1,000 folks camping and visiting. The energy is always incredible, but it would be even better with more rhythm and more light.

The Details:

• When: Friday, July 24, 8:30pm

• Where: Sunny Rest Resort, Palmerton, PA (in the area called "Tent City)

• What to bring: Djembes, rattles, shakers, or your flow toys! If you don't have any, don't worry - there's always extras!

• The Vibe: High energy, communal, and very welcoming.

• The Cost: If you arrive after 5pm, you don't pay the day visit fee. Rather, you pay $35, which gives you a card that can be used for $35 worth of food and drink at the bar, restaurant, or snack bar.

A Quick Heads-Up:

Sunny Rest is a clothing-optional resort. You don't have to be nude to participate (except in the pool area, where it is required), but you should definitely be body-positive and comfortable in that environment! Most people are clothed for the drum circle, with many dressed for the hippie theme.

This is part of a full weekend of fun. If you arrive early on Friday, stop down to the bar for an open mic. On Saturday, there will be a pool party with a DJ, yoga, water volleyball, hippie themed vendors, pickleball, and a nighttime DJ party. On Sunday, there will be live music poolside and over 30 teams competing in a cornhole tournament. There's a little hiking trail if you want to escape to the woods. You can set up a tent in several designated areas around the campground, or just show up for the drum circle.

I am not associated with the campground or the event organizers. I’m just a regular who loves this event and wants to see the circle grow with some talented new faces.