Hip in a "Crunchy Con" Sort of Way

So I'm out there cruising the blogosphere and I keep noticing the "Crazy Hip Blog Mama" webring button on many of the interesting "mommy" blogs. I click over to check out their homepage and I'm impressed with the dynamic group of women & their non-"sugar-coated" view of mamahood. Still, I resist joining at first because of the adolescent-like insecurity that I'm not "hip" enough to call myself a CHBM.

I've never fit in with the "popular" crowd. Too brainy, not interested in the whole binge drinking/drug-taking/casual sex scene, prefer to live frugally rather than get caught up in the rampant materialism of our culture- in short I prefer to be an iconoclast with a few true friends than a conformist with many superficial "friends". Even when I was in a sorority in college, I chose the one that had the most interesting and diverse group of women over the one which everyone told me that I "looked like".

On the other hand, I've also never fit in with the artsy "alternative" crowd either. The vegan "riot grrrls" publishing 'zines, dabbling in alternative lifestyles, getting piercings and tattoos, espousing radical feminism, exploring "New Age" or Eastern spirituality or "freethinking", and whatnot. It's their prerogative of course to choose how they live their lives and I respect their right to do so regardless of how I might personally feel about certain of those choices. I'm only going to be held accountable for my own actions, a major part of which is doing unto others as I would have them do unto me. "Judge not" and all that jazz!

Anyways, I'd been having my own mini-"pity party" about feeling unhip when I recalled Rod Dreher's book Crunchy Cons. That's me: the devoutly Catholic, "whole food" eating, nature-loving, anti-materialist, pro-family, homeschooling mama! Hey, if a best-selling book calls us "hip", then surely that qualifies me to join CHBM.

P.S. I *am* aware that Rod Dreher became disillusioned with the Church hierarchy's response to the whole sex scandal and has joined an Eastern Orthodox parish :-( I can sympathize with his feelings of betrayal and his frustration with the actions of certain bishops and cardinals (I grew up in the Boston area after all!) I disagree with his decision but Catholicism and Orthodoxy are one Church just tragically divided. I pray they will be reunited and there are promising signs that the nearly thousand year split may be nearing an end :-)