Youth without freedom is love without insanity or breath without air.
Freedom, to me, is a state of mind. No boundary or fence can violate it, nor can however, the lack of these ensure its existance. A recent, possible infringment of what I would consider a right of my youth, set me thinking. I wonder if anyone is truly free. Not just free from shackles of imposed subservience of slavery or the taught humbleness of colonial rule- but truly free- free to sail through life, and at every moment, have the ability to take decisions that are unaffected by another's opinion, desire, want or need. To be bound by nothing but the circle of your own future and your past.
Responsiblity seems to curbs freedom. Responsibility to parents, to children, to wives, to friends, to employers, to society. Even perhaps your responsibility to your own future. It almost seems selfish to desire freedom. How can that be?
I try to think of the last truly free semi important decision I've made in life- My job? No I had to get one of those. My career path? No- I my job shaped that. My choice of degree? No, I had to make a rational decision for that. Its scary. Maybe its just a reflection of my circumstantially influenced life. Maybe its the same for everyone.
But I find it worrying, that, if pure freedom can give you true happiness and satisfaction, how is it that we survive everyday, making small sacrifices of our freedom here and there, and to this and that? Does it mean, to enjoy freedom's sweet taste, a life of solitude and detachment must be lead?
Is it a fair bargain? Society or freedom? Love or freedom? Family or freedom? Is this an eternal struggle?
high apple pie in the sky hopes
6 years ago
1 comment:
True freedom, as you describe, seems a lot like anarchy to me.
If you made all your choices based on what you wanted, right here right now, and to hell with the consequences on anyone and anything... well surely that way madness lies?
Isn't that sense of respocibility, the ability to not put ourselves first, the presence of a concience - isn't that what makes us human?
But to come down to concepts that are a little less - oh, what's the word? - thinky?
You could make the choice to do whatever the hell you wanted. You could decide, for instance, to give up auditing and become a can can dancer; you could forget the search for MR Right and concentrate on Mr Right Now and you could not tell your parents about things that they would object to just because it will make your life easier.
People who have been brought up in similar ways with similar backgrounds and similar 'values' have made completely different choices in similar situations.
But...
then you wouldn't be you.
I'm not saying that your choices were the right ones or even better than anyone elses but they were yours.
It probably always will be a struggle but I suppose that you (and me when it comes down to it) think about the long term returns rather that the short -
'... well it might be awful fun to be a can can dancer but do they have dental?'
True freedom may seem like fun but I think we'd tire of it...
which doesn't mean that I don't want to give it all up to write about dragons all day but the pension plan is so much better.
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