I was born in the wrong generation.

Throughout my life, I have suspected it. My friends and family told me over and over. My husband declares it almost daily, but I really didn’t know the truth and gravity of the statement until the last few years: I was born about 30 years after I should have been.

It started out simply in my teenage years. Who doesn't love flowy, lace-y tops with flared jeans? Then came the braided strands in my straightened, blonde hair. Next, a love of The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel. Hiking and camping became restorative, not just fun recreations. All pretty mainstream interests. It wasn't until I hit my 20’s that these interests began evolving into a lifestyle.

I took a conservation class during my master’s work. It seemed an easy way to fulfill a requirement. Plus, I used the blue recycling cans to throw away my coke bottles...when I was at school… if there happened to be one nearby. I loved being outdoors, so I loved the environment right? I’ll take a few tests, get an A, and move on with my life. What I did not bet on was having an amazing teacher. The type of teacher that wants to change lives. (The type of teacher that I now strive to be every day.)

In this conservation class, we learned about the negative impacts humans are having on the earth. We read books and articles about amazing things people around the world are doing to try to make a better impact. We had class discussions to share ideas and opinions. Slowly, I began to see the world around me differently. It had become obvious to me that a lot of things that I did mindlessly didn't just end with me. I had no idea where my garbage went after the truck picked it up every Thursday. I wasted a lot of things that I shouldn't, I sometimes threw away items that could have been donated instead, the list goes on and on.

I wanted to make a change. I started recycling. I made a compost bin. I bought organic groceries. I did research on how to make a smaller impact. I stopped eating meat and most processed foods. It felt good, like I was making a difference in the world. It made a lot of sense to me; as much as I had always loved to dress like what I thought a “hippie” was and to listen to the music of that era, the lifestyle came as an easy adoption.

The more I dove into this lifestyle, the more I yearned to have lived during its heyday. If only I could have gotten the opportunity to be a “back to the land”-er, if only I could have been part of a community organic farm, if only I could have led a deforestation protest, if only, if only. It seemed to have all been so exciting and sensational in the 60’s. It was a real movement, man!

Here’s the thing: I know that the hippie movement was nowhere near as simple as caring about the environment and trying to make people realize that the earth does not contain an unlimited supply of resources. I know that there were more protests going on that had to do with Vietnam than saving the planet, and that some were even deadly. I also know that hippies were looked down upon as lazy, dirty, drug-users (which I do not condone at all, just to be clear) and that the life they chose was not an easy one as far as being socially accepted in general. What I pine for is the spirit of that time. The hopefulness that things could change and that a group of people could make a difference and set things right again.

I also know some of the great things that have happened since. The “save the planet” Generation X’ers of the early 90’s brought recycling and climate change into the public perspective and to the forefront of people’s minds. Social media and the vast possibilities of the internet have made the sharing of thoughts, ideas, and research on ways to make a smaller impact and to improve this world exponentially easier and more effective. I can now buy organic or local groceries and clothing right down the street in a run-of-the-mill retailer, I can recycle at my small town garbage dump, and (perhaps most personally important) I can be a vegetarian without being looked at as a social pariah...well, most of the time anyway :-).

So maybe I was born in the right generation after all. Call me crunchy, call me weird, call me a tree-huggin’ lunatic if you like. I’m just channeling my inner hippie… with a millennial twist.