295. Freedom Is A State Of Mind

People talk a lot about freedom in a physical sense. And, they should. After all throughout time, many people were not free, or not considered free. It’s easiest to consider freedom physically. Particularly if you have ended up in a captive or non consensual situation. But there’s a bit more to the concept of freedom than we may think.

It’s hard to understand or determine what would make someone feel “not” free in a mental or emotional sense. Perhaps mental illness has something to do with it. Undue stress. Or perhaps someone is being ‘brainwashed” in a way where they are not able to make or form their own decisions.

But the truth us, in almost every instance, you do have a sense of freedom, or at least, a sense of choice. The amount of pressure which is being placed on you, may vary. In fact, there are times where the pressure placed on you is life or death. But apart from those circumstances, almost everyone in every situation leading up to their passing, will be somewhere in the middle.

I think that we neglect how much choice we do have in our lives, or how much say we have in the matter. Yes, we are brought up in a system which often times limits choice (depending on where and how we were raised), but no one can ever force us to think or feel. Someone may blockade us physically, but what goes on inside our mind is up to us to control.

If you do feel that your choices are not up to you, or you’re “forced” into particular situations, consider why? We have all incarnated here choosing to align with the government, political and economic structures around us. Does this dissonance mean that we are not connected or contributing to these systems in the appropriate way? This isn’t to say we shouldn’t lean in to criticize, disrupt or even change these systems. But what about them, or or your involvement is not bringing you a sense of peace? Consider that the energy we project, and at times see outwardly, is simply a reflection of our own self.

As the months have gone on, thankfully, I have been feeling more free. For me, it was because I was establishing “blocks”, walls or boundaries due to fear, or perpetuating my own self preservation, or the old, negative or stagnant energy I was harboring. For some reason, when they were released, I truly did feel free. And perhaps after all, freedom is somewhat relative. It may be hard to understand what freedom is, besides “choice”. Freedom does not mean you get/receive anything and everything you want, particularly in a physical sense, but it means that no matter what you are up against, you have a choice. Even if that choice is just yes or no.

What do you feel you do not have a choice in? Is it chalked up to fear, putting yourself in a difficult situation? Maybe it’s even the preconditioning of others. This isn’t to say that all of these decisions have to be major ones. They can be simple. What breakfast to eat. When to go out and drive your car. Perhaps even which responsibilities you will do in a day. There are some realistic factors here, as some responsibilities are high priority. But this is more so about being forced into a corner. I do often times feel that our responsibilities are part of our subconscious’ alignment, but sometimes our conscious self overrides them. Consider what “chores” or “to-do’s” you may have the most problems with. Why do you feel that is? Where is the energetic tension or dissonance?

This isn’t to say that everyone’s lives are going to be happy and perfect all the time. Bu they… is it worth it to try for that or even just something close? To consider a life without freedom, and passing on from there, would theoretically be a waste of time. Particularly wen you yourself are at the hands of your own decisions.

If you’re struggling with not just how to resolve any dissonances or blocks with freedom, but what freedom is, that’s likely the place to start. What is freedom to you? Is it something you already have, that you’re taking advantage of (and need to find gratitude), or is it something you never even thought was a problem, or related to freedom, but you’ve been on auto-pilot with, for some time? Consider that repetitive loops, thoughts or emotions which are simply no longer serving you, may be lack of freedom overall. My suspicion is although I don’t have any and all answers as to what freedom is (and I do feel it changes over time), I do suspect it rolls much deeper than we may presume.