"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place."
-- Unknown
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Coulda been a flower child

This week’s weekly writing prompt from MamaKat: If I could live in any era of history, what would it be? (This was the obvious choice. I can answer without hesitation.)

Sometimes I feel like my soul is from another time. I listen to music, read books and watch movies from my favorite decade and feel a strange sense of nostalgia, even though it was years before I was even thought of. (Actually, I was never really “thought of” until it was too late. I hear I was an “uh-oh” baby. But anyway…)

So, what decade would I love to visit? The sixties, of course. (That shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who know my musical inclinations and love for old films.)

There are so many great things about this era in time:
  • Music – Okay, you should have known this would be at the top of my list. But how can you not LOVE sixties music? The Doors, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the beginnings of Led Zeppelin (their first album wasn’t released until 1969), The Who, The Kinks, Van Morrison, Otis Redding, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard….the names go on and on. And then there was Woodstock. I would give anything to see some of these bands live. Unfortunately, it is much, much too late for that. Well, technically I could still see the Stones, but who would want to? One of them might fall and break a hip.
  • Audrey Hepburn – The sixties gave us Breakfast at Tiffany’s and My Fair Lady, two of my all-time favorite movies. Although my favorite Hepburn movie was Sabrina (1954), this was still a great decade for Audrey.
  • Literature – Some of my FAVORITE books from childhood were written in the sixties. Although the Boxcar Children series began in the forties, ten of the books were written between 1960 and 1969. It just so happens they were my favorite ones. ALSO, Madeleine L’Engle wrote A Wrinkle in Time and The Moon by Night, the first two books of hers I ever read. They led me to her 1980 book, A Ring of Endless Light, which I can honestly say I read at least five times as a teenager. (If you saw my copy of the book, you’d know. It is definitely well-worn.)
  • Television – Oh my gosh, the sixties had some of the BEST shows. The Flinstones, Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Jetsons, Mr. Magoo, the Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, the Addams Family, I Dream of Jeannie, Mr. Ed, the Dick Van Dyke Show, Gilligan’s Island, Green Acres, Get Smart, Flipper…There should be a channel dedicated to JUST shows from this decade. TV Land is decent, but lately they’ve been slackin’.
  • Revolutionary thoughts – The sixties was a decade of radical thoughts and protests. People stood up for what they believed in and spoke out against injustice. The Free Speech Movement took place in 1964 at Berkeley, where students demanded administration to acknowledge their right to free speech and academic freedom. Martin Luther King, Jr., made his famous “I have a dream” speech and anti-war sentiments were made known by the flower child generation. People didn’t stand around idly waiting for things to happen or change to occur. They stood up for what they thought was right, even if it meant persecution.

I know it was a painful, tumultuous time in the lives of many Americans, but we have learned so much from people of this era who were unafraid to speak their minds and push the accepted boundaries.

10 comments:

Diane said...

Oooooh... good post! A Wrinkle In Time and Ring of Endless Light were (are) two of my favorite books! I was born in the 60's but really don't have any concrete memories until 1969 or 1970, so I don't suppose it counts. I've always felt that odd sense of nostalgia about the 40's, though... not that I would have wanted to live during WWII or before the Civil Rights Movement, but there's something about that decade...

Anonymous said...

Would have loved to have been a teenager in the sixties. I remember my older cousin's bedroom, with Elvis and Beetles posters all over. Her fake lashes and orange lipstick and teased hair. I remember songs like "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "Crystal Blue Persuasion" and I'm flooded with nostalgia...

M

Melanie Gillispie said...

OMG! This was great! I felt like I needed to take notes to comment. Me? Also an uh-oh, and guess when I was born?? Summer of '69. Me, Woodstock and the moon landing! Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin...The Kinks?! The Davies bros? So much >>>> The Jonas Bros!! Breakfast at Tiffany's-one of my favorites. I'm kind of in love with George Peppard in that movie. I never met anyone else who knew who the Boxcar Children were, much less liked them! Yea Heather! BTW, my brother-in-law looks just like Elroy! ;)

Andy - Instafather said...

I'd live in either the '30s (in between wars, great music, great clothes), or in the Ancient Egyptian days (advanced technology and fun with magic)

Jen L. said...

This is a great post! I would have liked to have grown up about a decade before I did. I was born in '77, but my husband was born in '70 and he had much cooler music experiences than I did. He used to go see INXS before they were even popular at a little place in DC FOR FREE! Of course, I didn't live in a big city, so mabye it wouldn't have been as cool as I think...
But I would have ROCKED the claw bangs! (I actually did rock them, but the full effect was lost because I was a 4th grader.)

Sometimes Sophia said...

Well done. Clearly, you gave this a lot of thought. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Audrey Hepburn was one of the most beautiful women of all time. I loved A Wrinkle in Time, but never read A Ring of Endless Light. Thanks for the tip... it's next on my list. But maybe I should reread Wrinkle first?

Anonymous said...

Awesome post! Lots of great memories. And you are the best "uh-oh" we could have ever received!

Jay @halftime lessons said...

Oh yeah...the sixties...the best 2 years of my life. ;-)
Jay @ HalftimeLessons.com

Anonymous said...

Ok, from one uh-oh to another. We're not uh-oh's. God is the creator of life. I learned then and made me think differently of being an uh-oh. Oh, by they why, my two little ones were not planned but I don't think of them as uh-oh's. Beside what would be do with out our Heathergirl. I know have a Calleighgirl. :-0

E

KatBouska said...

My mom had six uh-ohs...of course we're all woo-hoos now, but we know what you mean. :) Love this.