What exactly is freedom? The ability to choose what you do in every moment is a good starting definition.
Freedom is quite a personal thing though, isn’t it? To some it means not having any responsibilities, to others it could mean the ability to live without oppression.
Most of the things we say we want are rooted in our desire to have freedom. We want money so we can do what we want when we want. We want to live in a place where we can move about as we please, not controlled by outside forces.
Freedom in essence is the underlying goal of most desires.
In this society, when individuals perform outside the accepted laws, we take away their freedom and put them in jail. This is considered the ultimate punishment; this is how much we value our freedom.
When we no longer have it we realize that it is all that we truly want.
If you become ill, you no longer have the ability to choose what you want to do or how you want to feel. You are now closed in, imprisoned by a body that has gone wrong. You may be in a hospital, basically a prisoner of a different kind but no more free to leave than if you had a committed a crime.
When people do things we don’t approve of, we judge that they have too much freedom and need more structure in their lives. They are acting out of the painted boundaries we have set up and it isn’t acceptable.
We limit the freedom of children in many ways to teach them how to function in society. Because it is so ingrained in our very souls to seek freedom, most of these efforts are met with resistance. The child rebels, or does exactly what he is told not to do even if it causes self-harm. The boundaries are constantly tested as the child tries to exact more freedom.
When you accept a traditional job your freedom is limited. There are expectations placed upon your time in exchange for money. Coffee breaks, lunches, and quitting time are spelled out and the rest of the time is to be devoted to work.
The money we accept in return for this is used to purchase some aspect of freedom. The more money you earn, the more things you can buy. A house, the necessities like food and clothing, and then perhaps luxuries like nice cars and vacations; all of these contribute first to the basic needs of survival, but most importantly to our sense of freedom.
Sometimes we can become chained to the very things we felt would make us feel free. It is ironic that with more and more possessions, the ability to move about or change directions in life becomes more difficult.
Lottery winners have support groups they can join now. Many of them, suddenly with the freedom to do anything they choose, begin to engage in destructive behaviours. The parameters of their former lives are no longer there, and they don’t know how to act anymore.
Freedom to me is the ability to feel safe, my basic needs taken care of, and the ability to move around freely without fearing for my safety. I can create, express myself as I choose, and not be persecuted for it.
Freedom at its most basic level is the ability to move through life with ease, feeling safe and secure as we do so.