Freedom

Freedom is somewhat a loaded word. I say that because are we ever really truly free.

Freedom can mean a lot of different things. It definitely does to me. The first thing I think of is where I live. I live in the U.S.A. I have a lot more freedom than some people around the world. You can go from poor to a millionaire with the right idea or work ethic and a little luck.

I also think of Ukraine and their fight for freedom right now. How can we help them become free? Sometimes people do not even know what freedom is. I am thinking of cults. When you are in one you think you are free. Free from the supposed evils of society. If you escape from one, then you realize what freedom is. You are free to do what you want and not follow a leaders or cults rules.

One thing we rarely think about is inmates’ rights. Yes, they did something bad, sometimes really bad to end up in prison. When they get out is where the problem comes in. They have the freedom to live normally. They are free, but sometimes they are not treated as a free prison. They get denied jobs and are watched sometimes. It also depends on what they did. A sex offender will have less freedom than most people released from prison. They can not live near a school or work with children. They also have to register as a sex offender the rest of their lives.

I also think of the concept of free will. Do we actually have free will? Is there some grand design that we are following? I am in the middle. Sometimes I think we are following a grand design and sometimes I think we have free will.

That brings us to choices. Are our choices ours? Do we have freedom over our choices? We think we do most of the times but do we really. Are they forced on us? Another thing we have to Question about choices is are they choices or just who we are.

Is it nature or nurture? Our nature we have no control over. We have some control over our nurture. How we grow up can definitely affect how much freedom we do have in adulthood. If you were raised by strict parents when you do get your freedom by going to college or living on your own, you might go a little crazy. If you had parents that were not as strict and gave you some freedom growing up when you get out on your own, you are less likely to go crazy when you do get your freedom.

When it comes to my freedom, I am lucky to live where I live. I grew up in the country. On the dirt road I lived on there where very few houses and they where all owned by family members. It was great you could walk down the dirt road without worrying about getting hit by cars. We had a field and woods all around us, we could just play and be kids.

Freedom as an adult is a little harder for me. I have a day job that allows me to do my favorite thing and a side career. That is writing. Personally, freedom is hard because for a long time I did not know who I was. Once I finally figured it out, I could not openly be who I am because of someone that was living with us at the time. They are finally gone, and I can finally be who I really am. Having that freedom is amazing.

If you can not safely be who you are right now you can do little things like look at a website or follow people on YouTube or TikTok that are like you. Be careful and hopefully one day you can be free and live your life to the fullest.