I love this question. I haven’t always necessarily wanted to experience freedom in its raw form. All my life, I felt pushed to fulfill a certain idea about who I should become. Someone hightly educated despite never fitting in within the perimeters of the school. I actually spent the majority of my life until I was 16, developing useful skills. I would even argue I used to serve other people than to tend to myself. Especially from the age of 12-16, I had my 10 year plan written down. I was going to study at that High School, specialize in those subjects, move on to that specific University and study that specific major, and I had to do that all the while doing charity work and participate in a series of clubs. Did I end up doing any of it? Barely. I finished High School, that’s about it. At the age of 16, I was burned out and i hit rock bottom from wanting to achieve things greater than myself and it was simply too heavy of a burdon. My entire world flipped upside down and I took another to life.
That leads me to answer your question: what is freedom to me? Freedom is the opposite of everything I just explained. To me, freedom is being impulsive, present, and taking it day by day. It is by challenging myself within my means, and to explore the depth of my capabilities just as I see fit. Hitting rock bottom also allowed me to experience the opposite end of the spectrum, where I wanted nothing to do with work or studies, and I refused to compromise. I wanted to take off doing something I loved, and I wasn’t going to waste time on anything else. Boy, was I naïve. And as ridiculous as it sounds, that was me a little over a year ago. Back then, I would say freedom was waking up to my own schedule and paint all day and write books for a living. Today, I would still consider that to be a goal that would bring me a lot of freedom, but it is nothing compared to the freedom I’m about to present to you. Especially since it’s important to remember that even if you lived your dream life, your mentality might not always agree with you. Your “happy goal”/freedom goal might not bring you the happiness/mental freedom you thought. That’s why it’s important to find happiness/mental freedom right now in the things you have, or else you will miss out on a lot in your journey.
Freedom to me can’t function without balance. You have to understand compromise in order to find peace, and with peace comes some sort of mental freedom. If you are too stubborn, you’re going to make it much harder for yourself because life isn’t always kind. For me, going with the flow and allowing my plans to change, allowing my circumstances to influence my ideas and visions and wishes is the ideal way of living. That way, you don’t miss out on opportunities, and if it didn’t go exactly as you wanted, your pain/disappointment would be tolerable. Take life with a grain of salt. Remember that whatever happens, as long as your heart is beating, you will be okay.
J. Doe's Corner 