Defining Freedom
“The beauty of life is to be outside the box, so that the box doesn’t exist…to limit a human being to one mode of expression is really a crime.”
- Herbie Hancock
One of life’s biggest challenges is to be yourself in a world that wants you to be like everyone else. I mean your true, authentic self. The person that you are at your core. Society wants everyone to fit into this neat tidy little box, its ideologies. John D. Rockefeller back in the early 1900’s said, “I don’t want a nation of thinkers…I want a nation of workers.” And then, it was Frederick T. Gates, Rockefeller’s advisor who said in part: “we are not to raise up among them authors, orators, poets or men of letters.”
Society does not want you to be free, nor does society want you to realize just how powerful you are. The true self is to be hidden. The unfortunate truth is that many people have allowed themselves to be limited by their ideas about themselves and the world around them. But I cannot do that, and I know that many of you feel the same way.
One of my favorite books is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and one of my favorite quotes from that book states, “When I Discover Who I Am, I’ll Be Free.” I initially read this book over a decade ago, but more recently in the past five or six years as I have gone about my spiritual journey. True freedom lies in knowledge of self in mind, body and spirit, and this book takes you on a journey of self-discovery.
This quote in particular resonates with me in that, although I have been on this journey of discovery, I am still learning about me. I am still remembering who I am and all that I am, which is a multi-layered, multi-faceted being. I am multi-dimensional, as many of you are as well. We are not one size fits all, one dimensional beings.
Admittedly however, part of me still feels like I am in bondage to a certain extent, but I know that these invisible chains will break free as I continue along this journey of self-discovery, ascending and elevating in this realm of existence and gaining more knowledge and wisdom.
While I have awakened to several facets of myself, there are additional facets that have yet to even present themselves to me, and once they do, I will need to continue to peel those layers back to further discover who I am at the very core of my essence. The deep rooted, true me. The me, that may not even be human. The me that is ancient, galactic, even cosmic. The me that the world didn’t want me to discover about myself. But we are discovering ourselves and in great droves and it is a beautiful thing.
Knowledge of self brings true freedom. I’m not talking about freedom in this case in the financial sense or otherwise, but true freedom that is an embodiment of all that we are and who our true ancestors are. When people think about their ancestors, they typically stop at grandparents and great-grandparents, but your ancestors include thousands, upon thousands of spirits who were once part of this realm. I say spirits, because we are all spiritual beings having a human experience. In the book “You are a Spiritual Being Having a Human Experience” by Bob Frissell, he reminds us that we really do create our own reality and living a fuller life is simply a matter of broadening one’s perspectives.
We must ask questions like, what are my core values? Not those that I was taught or that my family thinks I should have, but what do I truly value? What do I believe? What does it mean to be truly free for me? No one can define freedom for you. For some, freedom means having at least ten million dollars. For others, freedom means having the choice of working or not, and the freedom to do what they want, when they want, with enough money to cover their expenses and have enough left over to splurge a little if they so choose. Yet for others, freedom means leaving the matrix, and not working for anyone but themselves. They do not mind working, but if they are going to experience any kind of stress, they want to experience it while working for themselves and no one else; building their own family empire.
Freedom for some is being able to live where they want; waking up with mountain views, in a beach house, or walking outside to sit on the porch of their lake house with their significant other while they watch the sun rise or set without worry of their bank account. Freedom is internal, and your definition of freedom starts with you creating a vision for yourself. A vision of how you see your life. What does it look like, feel like, taste like? Knowing yourself and what you value helps you in not trying to be like anyone else.
My entire life I have been called “weird” which I wholeheartedly view as a compliment. Weird to me simply means being a leader and not a follower. In other words, I march to the beat of my own drum. Not being what society thinks I should be, but instead being what I choose to be. You too should choose exactly who you want to be, and whatever your definition of freedom, let that guide you to create the life that you want. Now go forth and be free!
