I Am A Boho Girl

Long before Sienna Miller, Nicole Richie and the Olsen twins revived the popular boho hippie style of the 60's and 70's, I was a boho girl. In fact, I was boho before they were even born! (Gosh, now I REALLY feel old!)

However, the Bohemian style has actually been around for over 200 years! You can read about its humble beginnings here. But unlike the fashion-minded style of of today's Bohemian generation, a TRUE Bohemian lifestyle is not so much about FASHION, as it is ATTITUDE. After all, fashions come and go, but the Bohemian attitude is a way of life; a mindset that lasts forever!

Before I explain what defines a true Bohemian girl, I'd like to take you back a few years to a time when every Boho girl had at least ONE pair of bell-bottom pants, a pyschodelic tye-dye shirt, oversized peace earrings and listened to some of the best rock and roll ever recorded!

The year was 1975, and Queen had just released its #1 hit, Bohemian Rhapsody, one of the most imaginative and fantastically Bohemian-inspired rock songs every written. If you haven't listened to it in a a while, take a few minutes now and put yourself in a "Bohemian rock" state of mind!

From ultra-flared bell bottom jeans to funky tie-dyed t-shirts, the 1970s fashion world embraced the Bohemian fashion style, AND a whole new mindset. And even though she didn't create it, Savannah Miller, elder sister of Sienna, describes the Bohemian mindset perfectly: "someone who has the ability to appreciate beauty on a deep level, is a profound romantic, doesn't know any limits, whose world is their [sic] own creation, rather than living in a box". (Savannah Miller, Sunday Times Style, August 2006) Well said, Savannah!

The true Bohemian mindset embraces free living, creativity, romance and spontaneity - the freedom to live life on your own terms. Bohemians go against everything that causes internal or external conflict. Peace, love, joy and self-expression rule our hearts and minds. We live in the moment, but not for the moment, as there are always new dreams to dream, new journeys to venture and new waves to ride. Bohemians leave stress, anxiety and competition behind, preferring rather to run barefoot down a deserted beach, explore endless trails through the woods or just sit outside and meditate amidst the starry sky of a full moonlit night.

Bohemians embrace the real and true values of life, finding peace in imperfection. We are beautiful broken shells that line the shores of a unspoiled beach; creative misfits in a world defined by social conformity, and wandering gypsies traveling unfamiliar paths with reckless abandon. But above all, we are who God made us to be, with no need for veils or masks, or excuses to be anyone but who we are.

The Bohemian life is gentle, fun-loving and uncomplicated. "Live, Laugh, Love" is our mantra. We are carefree and high-spirited one moment, and in total mental alignment with the moon, stars and planets the next. We ride on the wings of whispers and love, float effortlessly along with the clouds, and swing haphazardly from star to star, free from fear, worry and hate. We fear neither life nor death; for we are at peace in either place.

Bohemians are as one with nature, and are in perfect harmony with each season. We come alive with fresh ideas and a renewal of life in Spring; drink in the golden energy of warm Summer days, shed negativity and worry with the falling leaves of Autumn, and nestle securely and peacefully in the warmth and magic of a Winter's snow.

Our most treasured possessions are intangible, and so much more valuable than gold, silver or money. Imagination, creativity and dreams birth effortlessly from within our souls, and we freely give of them to make room for more. We never live in poverty or need, for we feed ourselves from within, freeing ourselves from the Bourgeois struggle of climbing the corporate ladder or "keeping up with the Jones's". We have already made our place in the world - it is the world that has to make a place in ours. It is the world's struggle, not ours.

If you always thought Bohemian was a fashion, style or fad, you really missed it. The Bohemian lifestyle is one of unleashing not just style inhibitions, but more importantly, inhibitions of the mind, heart and soul. To be a true Bohemian means being true to yourself above all, and allowing others the same courtesy; for it is only in total acceptance that one can find true freedom and happiness in life. Bohemians just keep dancing with life, even when the music stops playing!

I am a Bohemian girl. Now. Always, and Forever!