I do think this is a good holiday, for one thing, we're not out there buying up everything in sight (except food!), like Christmas and now Halloween. We actually spend time with family (those who can).

I believe it can be a time of superficiality and certainly spending time with the family can create some stress, but this is easily overcome since the reason for the holiday is so simple! There's no religious dogma or patriotic fervor or other bullshit to buy into.

It also coincides with pagan holidays this time of year. In fact Thanksgiving is as close to a hippy holiday as you can get (besides Earth Day)! Perhaps we need to start our own holidays to celebrate those events important to us. Here are some suggestions!

Hippie Holidays!

Gathering of the Tribes: (Jan 14th) The anniversary of the first Human Be-In. A day for us to reflect upon our accomplishments and to set new goals!

Woodstock Day: (mid-August) (A happy joyous day filled with music and togetherness). Perhaps we can have large regional gatherings around the world, with FREE music, without corporate sponsorship!

Kent State Day: (May 4th) A sad day to remember those victims of government repression and conspiracy. A day to protest government repression!

Earth Day: (April 22) We already do a lot for this day. It's a reminder of our relationship with our planet, and a day to point out environmental abuses and find ways to minimize our impact and repair our ecosystems.

Peace Day: (pick one!) A day to promote peaceful solutions to the worlds problems and to protest militaristic policies and nuclear proliferation. Apparently there are many days that are celebrated as Peace Day. Check out his page to get a partial list:

http://www.peaceday.org/pcdays.htm

It seems we should either have one big international day, or we hippies can make our own (it could coincide with one of these international days).

Greed Day: A day to protest corporate and individual greed! Target those companies and individuals who put their own materialistic desires over the common good. This might be good to have during the Xmas holiday shopping season. Highlight those who have suffered as a result of our society's unrelenting greed, and demonstrate the benefits of alternative approaches (cooperatives, communes, etc.).

Legalization Day: (April 20th) A day for all the groups and individuals who protest the criminalization of non-addictive drugs to get together and coordinate their efforts. Nationwide and worldwide protests to demand legalization and release of the "political" prisoners in jail who have harmed no one.

Solstices & Equinoxes: - These are traditional Pagan holidays and have been cause for celebration for thousands of years. Many hippies already celebrate these celestial events. (note how celebration and celestial have the same root!).