"Think for yourself, question authority." Timothy Leary

Of all the outrageous things Timothy Leary said, and he said many, those words always stood out. What an idea! Emerging from the cocoon of the Ozzie and Harriet 50's, where life was lived a certain way (a way that, by the way, often had nothing to do with reality), it was a risky command to buck the "system."

What I didn't realize at the time was that "thinking for yourself," and "questioning authority," wasn't a one-time task that you could do and then be done with it. It was something that must be lived out each and every day, even now in the 90's, when there are times it seems prudent to whisper liberal views.

It seems harder now. Sometimes, it is so hard, it's easier to let it all rest and rationalize that courage is only for the young, and to put one's life in the hands of the policy-makers and the money-makers and the image-makers is just fine. It's easier to turn one's life over to whomever is in charge at the time, because it is difficult to think for yourself.

But eventually, we know it's not fine.

The number of aging hippies who are running to therapy and workshops on how to reclaim personal power speaks to what a struggle it is to live a life with integrity and a sense of self. That desire to heed the words of a whacked-out guru who opened eyes to the possibilities of "thinking," period, keeps tugging somewhere in hearts. Because as crazy as we all knew Timothy Leary was, even in his days of glory, we sensed the truth in his message.

So, it was comforting to hear what Leary's last words were, as he slipped into the light. His son, Zachary said his dad questioned until the end.

"Why not?"

And finally, "Yeah."

Thank you, Timothy Leary, for giving a generation the sometimes painful challenge of learning to "think for ourselves."

June 2, 1996 Kelley Rouse All Rights Reserved

rouse@shore.intercom.net

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