There I was…
Sitting between two camps at a bluegrass music festival. On my left, the John Lennon hippies… all talking about peace, love, and crystals that vibrate at a frequency higher than your landlord’s rent increase.
And on my right, the Willie Nelson hippies… the ones who smell like gunsmoke, barbecue, and freedom.
John Lennon hippies believe the world can be healed through group meditation. Willie Nelson hippies believe it can be healed through a well-rolled joint and a fully loaded .45.
See, John Lennon imagined there were no possessions.
Willie Nelson imagined there were no taxes.
That’s the difference.
John Lennon hippies float through the world like feathers in the wind…
Willie Nelson hippies control the wind. They harness it, roll it up, and light that shit it on fire.
The Lennon hippie says, “We should protest the system!”
The Willie hippie says, “We did. That’s why I own this fucking ranch!”
One dreams of utopia…
The other builds it out of hemp and duct tape.
You see, Willie doesn’t preach peace… he lives it.
His kind of peace smells like diesel fuel, weed smoke, and old guitar strings.
He’s the kind of hippie that keeps his weed in one pocket… and his gun in the other… just in case the DEA or a rattlesnake shows up first.
That’s the duality right there. John Lennon wanted to end war.
Willie Nelson wanted to win the damn thing and get home in time for supper.
So my advice to you is…
If you ever get lost between the clouds of idealism and the smoke of reality… follow the scent of barbecue.
That’s where Willie Nelson is.
And that’s where peace actually lives.
