Freedom comes with the background notion of bondage. How can we be free if we feel bound? Isn’t freedom a taken?
When we say we want to feel free or be free or live our freedom what does this mean? Is our toddler living his freedom? I think not and I think he might be festering a tad bit of resentment towards his caregivers of not letting him be – thus the mini meltdowns and emotional exposés!
Are we still in that way developmentally arrested when we seek freedom because a part of our brain couldn’t cognise what seemed like a bondage was in fact a secure bond needed to protect the toddler through boundaries, the word “no”, nap times, bed times, meal times, and many more freedom spoilers. Or does our whole perception of freedom depend on how our perceived “jail keepers” implement the limits so that we appreciate the boundaries as such, instead of as intended to keep us captive.
We see many use the term “freedom”. This means different things to all. But. Essentially we will say that freedom is the ability to freely be oneself without hindrance restriction, and with a carte blanche hued with breathing space and enough elbow room. We can be we. That’s it.
But why is it so priced and why don’t we feel we are free most of the time?
Look at the timelines again. Were you given a “freehand” and given the space to “be” or was your spirit of play often met with a “sigh” or a stern look or a raised eyebrow or a disapproving look? Were you trained to become an achiever so that most of your time after school was spend studying?
Any feeling of encroachment will be planted in our infancy and found too in our activated genes depending on the environmental factors. Did we come from a people that were enslaved? Unless we are modelled a free form living and loving, that predisposition might become activated and be lived out even though present circumstances don’t “enslave”. Sadly the old genetic make up does. Again it will depend on what seeds are planted at infancy. When we ourselves live and love freely with flexible facility and space to be, our children will develop towards that model.
How much of what we were taught at school do we retain? Not much. But what about emotional experiences at school such as friendships, bullies, harsh teachers, beatings and encouragement from our peers? More often than not our peers acceptance of us will shape our adolescent brain more than the academia.
All of our experiences can bind us or free us. We can become enslaved by our own mind and be freed by the very same mind. It is all a matter of awareness and a conscious effort to know your self, that, you can attain self mastery and thereby freedom. Freedom is innate and who we are. To say we want to be free is telling of bondage. Locate the bind and process it.
We can be in a prison and still feel freedom. Freedom is a state of being. It is how we feel regardless of what is happening to us on the outside. You see, we are always free. What keeps us from realising this, is our egoic mind which will deliberately keep us in shackles and manacles. Freedom is independent. It is self sustaining.
True freedom is already us. Freedom has always been there. Our mind, which is a powerful tool at our disposal, will programme itself to what our caregivers model to us as infants. When we provide an environment that gives the infant the safety net to explore freely without getting worried they might be caught out, know that you are nurturing innate freedom.
It is the seeds of captivity that are planted at infancy. The soil of freedom remains fertile but on that have been sown seeds of if I don’t this then mama or papa will do that. So if I don’t get a grade A then mama will not bake a cake for me and if I fail I will feel I have failed mama and therefore that I am a failure.
We have so many such limitations within us and it’s time to invest in some space to clear out all the reasons why you feel you want to be free, and why you are not living freely.
Are you free?