Heather has a Bachelor's Degree in English from Moravian College and has been freelance writing for more than 12 years.

Started 1960 with the right amount of hope

And optimism that 1950s tradition still mattered

Believed that the Kennedy version of Camelot

Would prevail over all of the negative forces plotting

To destroy the American foundation from the ground up

Innocence shattered in Dallas in November 1963

Brought with it a level of conspiracy theories designed to question

Skeptical of most authoritative grounds now due to that particular day

Unsure of what it is fact or fiction; unless there was concrete proof to back it up

Searching for truth, justice and new version of the American way

One that allowed all men and genders to be created equal

Didn't allow for short cuts to get to the top of the political pyramid

Brought some form of stability without stifling the creativity of a hippy

Music started out the decade as carefree and optimistic

Ended same decade by being darker and more experimental than ever before

The Beach Boys and The Beatles revolutionized their songs around that time

Hippies and other adventurous folks decided to expand their minds

Through education and the brewing drug culture

Led to creative walks in the park that brought audiences through different means

Sure, expanding your mind through taking illegal substances not best avenue to take

Could lead to an addictive need to escape traditional forms of reality

Better to face regular everyday problems head on

See a therapist if your problematic marriage was hitting the skids

Talk to your spouse, or head to divorce court

It might have been frowned upon at the time to break up families

Better to split up than stick together in a sinking relationship

Taking a detour into the hippy subculture helped to bring new understanding

To the youth growing up in that time as they looked for something to believe in

Even if it meant going against the conventions of being a clean cut mod person

Growing out your hair style and wearing bell bottoms a symbol of freedom

Free love allowed people to move from relationship to relationship with ease

Ignoring the future complications that diseases could cause

Ready to wake up from the mist of being sandwiched between two groups

Looking to find a happy medium of rebellion and conventional wisdom

Without losing the hope and glory of what meant to be happy

Easier said than done, but still have to try all the same.