Dear Jam the Hippie,

I knew I wanted to talk to you the moment I saw you sitting at the bar. Not for the reasons most guys and gals want to talk when at a bar late at night, but rather, you had this peaceful presence about you. We made eye contact and both gave each other a passing smile right away, but it wasn’t until the end of the night that we actually started chatting and I am glad we did.

You had long dreadlocks held back by a purple bandana and your beard, which was braided, had green and blue beads strung throughout it. You wore a purple and blue lined shirt that hung around your thin body like a decorated draped sheet and your pants were of the same material, loosely hanging, to the point where it looked as if you might be were wearing a skirt. I am not sure if you were wearing shoes or not, as the bar was quite dark, but I would assume not, since in this town not many people do. Your eyes, which were as clear as the lake that I had been swimming in that morning, scanned the people around the bar, as you quietly sipped your drink.

As the night passed on, I finally came up to you and we introduced ourselves. You were originally from Canada and had traveled down here seven years ago. Although many people come to visit San Pedro and get “stuck” for a few months, it seemed as if you had no desire to ever leave. You did some online freelance work on the side to have enough for the necessities, but besides that, you were just enjoying your time here and fully embracing who you were without a second thought, even though you said that your family back home thought of you as a bit crazy.

I asked you how you were able to just pick up and leave everything else behind and be so confident in what you were doing, disregarding what society deemed as normal. With a voice that sounded as if you were putting a baby to bed, you spoke about the love of oneself and explained that “you must get rid of one’s ego in order to really be at peace within.” I asked how you were able to do so, as the concept was one I had heard of before, but never had been able to put into action. Your answer said it all. “You must take some LSD. But it must be a very large dose, so that you are able to go over the edge and defeat your ego. With just a small dose of LSD, your ego will win and you will not be able to fight back. DMT works too.” 

No response was needed as I just stood there with a smile. By that point, Kelli had heard it all and told Kailynn and I it was time to leave.  Although I am not sure I will take your advice on LSD my friend, I do have to say thank you for inspiring me to embrace exactly who I am, as you so easily do yourself. You do such an incredible job being you and because of that people just gravitate towards you.

Inspired por you,

Kristen