“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” ― Søren Kierkegaard
I have been slow to read books recently. My previous voracious quest for knowledge in books has waned in place of plodding through them. Even re-reading chapters and passages that haven't quite reached the spot they needed to. Maybe it's coming from a need to understand the writing and take it all in so I may share the message succinctly, we'll find out soon enough.
The same theme kept arising for me in both my writing practice and my night time reading.
Freedom.
The last three years or so have been all about freedom and control. But my mental processing and questioning was "how do we keep ourselves caged" and it all came down to this.
Who we think we are and fear
Who we think we are is who we portray in the World. We believe we are our past actions and remembered records and we attach to these and our projected persona. This is not who we really are but it can take a while to figure that out, just as it took time to build that picture of ourselves.
To set ourselves free and become who we really are involves getting rid of a lot of the crap that that we have become attached to. Who we are is a fantastic vibrational machine with amazing intelligence that creates it's own reality through experience. But often we are scared to discover this intelligence because it means some honesty with ourselves and others. We become frightened of the void of and opt for the security of what and who we know.
“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” ― Ralph Ellison
When people get in contact with me, this part of them is in overdrive, often causing stress or depression or just a sense of being lost or stuck. It happens to us all. We feel trapped, like life is happening and we have no control.
We are attached to that persona and want to be free. We want to move forward but are frightened of what may happen and how it may feel and so we stay. The fear is really of the unknown.
I am incredibly lucky now to be in a place where I can support others to find who they are and help them out of this stuckness they feel. But not everyone chooses it, sometimes it is thrust upon us. Being thrown into chaos is sometimes the only way we will make a move.
Very often in my own life this was the exact kick up the backside I needed to propel me forward but it certainly wasn't the easiest.
These days we have less to fear in the sense of the direct threat that our ancestors dealt with. But we seem to be so much more fearful of life and experience. We spend so much time in the mind creating mental obstacles that limit our actions and decisions preventing us from making progress.
The fear of failure, the fear of success, the fear of rejection, the fear of missing out, or the fear of commitment. These feelings of insecurity, unworthiness, or indecision can often be addressed if we choose to.
“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.” ― Jim Morrison
But how easy is it to be yourself in a World full of "sameness" and "fitting in"
I will quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Are you willing to try?
Are you willing to step into the void?
Are you prepared to step even lightly into the unknown and find what is possible?
Spend a few moments this week, where we can feel the Spring begin to burgeon into life and ask yourself.
What could life look like if I let go?
What would it feel like to be completely myself?
Give yourself the opportunity to notice the dreams and the fear.