In general, people tend to gravitate towards those like
themselves in some way. I have often described myself with the
line, "A long-haired, barefooted, gay hippie scientist dude."
I like others like myself. Initially, of course, there is
physical appearance. I like the "look" of hippies...always
have and I don't know why.
But, beyond the physical, I would conjecture that people who
look similar often do so because of how they think and feel on
the inside. Hippie-folk tend to be friendly, caring, warm, and
compassionate to *strangers* as well as people they already
know. Such is often not the case with non-hippie folk.
Hippies also tend to be respectful of Nature and in tune with it
and tend to like to experience it in its richness. I personally
enjoy being nude, especially outdoors where I can experience the
natural world without interference: the warmth of the sun on my
face and body, the breeze across my skin, the Earth beneath my
bare feet. Because of where "society" is currently, I can not,
unfortunately, be nude outside in most places. But I am always
barefoot (and, fortunately, even to work). It really bugs me to
be separated from the ground.
I also like the social aspects of nudity. I have found that
people who are nude tend to be more open, honest, and warm than
those who are not. They are, after all, baring everything,
every imperfection, to another person: "This is me." It's also
a humbling experience.
I would like to make friends who have the same "bent" because
neither conventional society nor the mainstream gay community
(who have to have just the right hair, the right clothes, and
the right material possessions to fit in) offers such things.
And, I'll also admit, that it would be nice, should the
opportunity present itself, to meet up with another like-minded
guy to build a life together in a home of love and warmth.
However (uh oh), there may perhaps be some problems. I'm not
(stereotypically) hippie-like in all aspects. I don't use any
kind of "substances." I have experimented (all good scientists
experiment) but I just simply didn't like the "weird" feelings
I got. I also don't like interacting with people who are high
(any more than I like interacting with people who are drunk).
I like somebody for who s/he is, not the distorted, clouded
entity some substances transform that person into.
I'm also not vegetarian (though I could probably be but I don't
have the time right now to learn how to feed myself all over
again); I'm an agnostic and "spirituality" is a meaningless
term to me. (Please don't try to explain it: save your breath,
er, keystrokes.) I'm a scientist, M.S. in computer science
from a good school; worked at AT&T Bell Labs; did visualization
research; have a couple of patents; puplished a book and some
papers. I'm not into "far out" theories (unless your name
happens to be Stephen Hawking). So some of the hippie-folk
I've encountered, to me, seem to be way "out there"...too much
so for my taste. We have nothing to talk about.
So, maybe I will fit in with Rainbow fold; maybe I won't. I
seem to be rambling now. I hope the above answers your
question. Oh, and here's my real sig:
.oooO Oooo. Paul J. Lucas -- long-haired, barefooted, gay scientist dude
( ) ( ) pjl AT best DOT com (in English to foil spam-bots)
\ ( ) / http://www.best.com/~pjl/ <- Me
\_) (_/ http://www.barefooters.org/ <- Barefootin'