Freedom. What does it mean to you? When I say that word I think of Richie Havens singing ‘Freedom, Freedom” to open up the Woodstock festival. That was the beginning of an event where people of all shapes, sizes, colors and backgrounds hung out together for 3 days of love, respect for each other, and a little bit of rock and roll. It was an example of infinite possibilities.
We’ve just celebrated the 4th of July weekend. Since 1776 we’ve enjoyed the celebration of our freedom from a system we felt was oppressing us. We wanted to live as we choose to, not as someone else chooses us to.
Our country was founded on a principle of “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. What exactly does that mean? You have a right to life. To living it? To just having a life? Having a life covers a lot of ground, from living the dream life you envision, to simply being a carbon-based life form.
A right to Liberty. Liberty suggests the responsible use of freedom under the rule of law without depriving anyone else of their freedom. What are our freedoms? The biggest one in my mind is the Freedom to be. To Be. Not necessarily to have, to own, or even to do. We get to be whatever we want. and if we somehow are limiting ourselves, then we are not completely free. This is internal freedom, the absolute freedom that each of us has access to, and it has nothing at all to do with what might be going on outside of us. This is the type of freedom exhibited by folks like Victor Frankl and Nelson Mandela, who were physically locked up, but remained free in their hearts and minds.
There is a lot of noise about our personal freedoms these days, the freedom of speech, freedom to marry anyone we want, the freedom to bear arms, the freedom to walk down the street without being accosted, the freedom to wear or not to wear masks. I’d like to touch on this example right now as it is current. Yes, you have the freedom to wear or not to wear a mask. Doesn’t someone else have the freedom to not catch your germs? The folks who get paid to know this stuff have suggested that we wear masks for everyone’s protection. I’m not arguing one way or the other.
Let me run a couple of things by you. We’ve agreed to drive on a certain side of the road. The idea behind this is, if everyone respects this agreement, we won’t run into each other, and we will be free to live our lives and pursue our happiness. It is written that we have the right to own guns. We did not agree that we can shoot each other. These laws/rules/suggestions/guidelines are in place to allow everyone the freedom to live the life they want and to do no harm to anyone else.
What do these two examples have in common? Respect. Respect for others. The freedom I believe we’ve signed up for does not suggest your freedom at the expense of another’s. We can enjoy our personal freedoms, live our lives the way we want, and have respect for others to be able to live without fear of their freedoms being stepped on.
We are very blessed to live in a country that, at its core, is about freedom. We enjoy many freedoms here that other countries don’t have access to.
Again, what does freedom mean to you? To me, it means to be free in my heart and my mind. These are two freedoms that no one can deprive me of. And. Life – of choice, of safety, without fear of oppression, Liberty – to live without having my freedoms attacked, and the pursuit of what I consider happiness. I believe we all want the same things, at our core. We want to create a comfortable lifestyle, choose our partner, eat regularly, sleep inside. Live and be at peace. Allow everyone else the same freedom to live their life as they choose. It’s all about respect. just sayin’