I was exposed to the purity of hippie, festival culture when I was sixteen. My older brother invited about 30 young hippies for a dance party at our small South San Francisco house.

It was a perfect day with bursting colors of all kinds. We had a fire in our backyard where people gathered, smoked and drank.

People hung out in our little zen lounge which was the garage, playing acoustic guitars drunk as hell.

When it got dark the backyard was pounding with house-techno fusion. Boys and girls yelping and swinging themselves to the beat. It was all laughs and love

People smoked in our little alley patio sharing ancient mystic parables.

There was a short moment where I was in the garage playing guitar for five hippies gathered around me all quiet and listening. I sang songs that were of deep meaning to me at the time.

A young girl, one year older than me was closing her eyes, lightly rocking her head as I sang. When I finished she smiled and told me,

“That was beautiful,”

“You’re beautiful,” I smiled back,

“You’re so sweet,”

I fell in love with her that night.

When I went to bed, my whole body smelled of ash and smoky redwood from the campfire.

I listened to wavy acoustic songs and had beautiful dreams. I even found myself crying at the sheer beauty I was feeling.

(Some footage of that day)

All these miraculous moments seem so distant and fragmented now. It often seems this child like wonder can’t be felt anymore.

I feel the hippie souls are dying in this mass control system.

All the interactions I have are with masked individuals. Literally.

“I want to change the face of social interaction

Truth is love and a call to action

So why can’t I seem to get anyone’s attention

I think this dimension needs an intervention.”

- King Shelter

I am hopeful. I know that nobody truly knows anything.

Sometimes I think people are afraid to have hope because it’s too painful. When people see me, passionate about a harmonious future, they are quick to demean me and tell me all the reasons that I am clearly wrong.

I am only playing the part which feels right for me. We all are.

Many people are unable to practice their culture and unable to do what they love.

This year has been strange, but so is waking up every morning and living out a dream of inner exploration. Things cannot be free without tension. Things cannot be easy without hardship.

Things cannot live unless they die.