Anyway, I heard his version of "Freedom" he wrote as part of Wham. So, it got me to thinking what exactly is freedom? Can something seem like freedom but is really a prison of sorts? So, I pondered those two questions/thoughts as well as others and here is what I came up with.
THOUGHTS/DEFINITIONS OF FREEDOM
- The ability to make your own choices/decisions (as opposed to being controlled or pressured to do something different).
- That can mean not having to make a choice.
- That can mean making a choice which you otherwise might not be able to.
- Control can come from an outside source (others).
- Control can come from an internal source (our hangups).
- The can mean not being held back by ourselves/others.
- The ability to be yourself or express yourself without recrimination or at least fear of the consequences of doing so.
- Worrying less about what others think as we get older.
- Often due to confidence gained from experience.
- Often from contempt about being told 'what to okay to do or think', especially when it comes from those with much less life experience.
- Often due to fatigue of expending the energy trying to worry about what others think.
- The ability to set better set aside or let go of worry about what others think.
- Realization that you can't control what others think.
- Realization that letting what others think gets in the way of being yourself can be harmful or toxic.
- Realization that you'll never be able to please everyone, so you might as well be true to yourself.
- Realization that life is too short and some things are just too important to let others dictate or overly influence you.
- How we raise our children is a great example of this. While we can heed what others say or take it into account. We can't let others dictate how we parent. Being paralyzed by what others think can get in the way of effective parenting.
- Not having to rely on another.
- For our material needs.
- For our contentment or happiness
- For our sense of purpose or being.
- Not having 'report' to another.
- Could be an employer
- Could be a parent or adult or someone who is in charge of you.
- Could be a mate.
- Nothing left to hold onto/nothing left to lose. This one I will explore in another blog post.
- Really just an illusion.
- We always have someone we need to report to
- Even a business owner will have to 'report' to his or has to answer to clients or potential clients.
- Every year on our around April 15th-and for some more often-people have to report to the IRS.
- In our modern society, we will always have to rely on others. Examples include
- Not everyone can raise their own livestock or farm for feed needs.
- We don't have the ability to maintain or fix the roads we travel on in most cases.
- Freedom is rarely free
- Each Memorial, Veteran's and Independence Day, we are reminded of the cost of fighting to achieve and retain our freedoms (life and death struggle).
- Often we have to give up something to gain freedom.
- Dying gives us freedom from pain and suffering
- Lonliness and alienation from some of those around us can be the cost of freedom from a 'bad relationship'.
- Financial hardship can result from being separated from a soul-sucking job.
Let's break some points down a little further.
Freedom From Control
- I think when mot people think of freedom, they think of not having to answer to someone or not having someone try to control you in some way. That's easy to spot. What is harder to spot is when is when you are in your own prison. That is where you are beholden to your own demons or hang-ups.
Freedom Is Being Yourself
- I believe history is littered with people who felt imprisoned to expectations of those close to them and society in general. Whether we feel we cannot choose whom we couple with, what we should do with our lives, what we are allowed to think or express, or something else along those lines, being imprisoned to the expectations of others is hard on the soul. Back in the day, I've always been a very sensitive person and in some regards in the era I grew up in that was frowned upon as a guy. I felt like there was a pressure to be 'macho' and not show 'weakness' or especially sensitivity. The later for a guy was interpreted by some as a sign of homosexuality or at least being a 'sissy'. I never saw and still don't see those things in myself, but as a teen wanting acceptance, I certainly didn't want to be pegged anything like that. I liked what I liked. I liked 'Wham!' and I think to a large extent people 'knew' George Michaels was gay. I knew it wasn't the most macho music for a guy to listen to, but I liked it, but didn't brag about that. I have realized over time that the fact that I like it was all that was important. It didn't matter if it didn't fit the stereotype of 'dude' music. It didn't matter if people mocked them (and by proxy) guys who might like it. None of that mattered. I like what I like and if others have a problem with it, well I might not be accepted, but if that's the price of acceptance, it's not worth it. But as a guy with a very sensitive side, I knew I had to 'keep it hidden'. Anyway, the freedom to be yourself is either the actually when you aren't criticized for being who you are OR it is the ability to move past caring or at least getting paralyzed by what others think.
Freedom Is A Prison
- You want to give up drinking, smoking, gambling, etc. However, your spirit is trapped in rut where you feel compelled to feed your hang-ups. As I alluded to earlier, this can be a prison of sorts rather than 'freedom'. You may be old enough to engage in self-destructive and addictive behavior and you may even celebrate your 'freedom' to engage in certain behaviors. But, in time what seemed like freedom really is imprisonment to your own demons.
- Like most things that matter in life, there is cost. To live a comfortable life, we typically have to work hard and sometimes long hours. To do the best for our kids, we often have to sacrifice or set aside our own needs or wants. Freedom is no different. We may not have to go to the front line and put our life on the line, to ensure our (and others') freedom, but there is usually a cost. If we are okay with being single, we may not have to 'answer to' a mate, but we may feel lonliness at times and we may give up the chance for a love connection. We may be away from a toxic job that was hurting us mentally and/or spiritually, but it may come at a cost of a lifestyle we are used to. We want the freedom to afford to travel where we want, but we have to sacrifice a lot of time on hard work to afford us the opportunity. We have a 1st Amendment to speak our mind, we may not go to prison, but it can cost us things like our job and our friends. There are countless examples, but the point is clear. Freedom is not free.
There are many other possible takes on freedom I'm sure, but these are the ones that stand out to me. As I think freedom means nothing left to lose needs a more of a treatment, I will leave that for later, but I think this covers a lot of ground.
Just my thought and I hope some of my takes get my readers to think about it. Maybe come up with their own definitions and perhaps come up with a different take. In any case, as I am ending this blog, feel free to spend your time on other things. Maybe feel free to look at other blog posts.
Cheers,
Rich
