Pages

Sunday, November 16, 2014

What Is Freedom ?

Recently, I was asked to participate in a campaign that encourages a greater degree of freedom within a woman. And that got me thinking about what freedom actually means to me. Here are some thoughts… raw and beautiful.
Freedom is
Freedom to me is…
-       having the voice to say no to sex, even to a partner
-       being able to buy a motorbike and ride it across the country
-       being able to wear t-shirts and jeans, and walk down the street without fear of being touched or spoken to inappropriately
-       being able to go to a public park in the middle of the day, lie on the grass and day-dream
-       driving out to eat ice cream in the middle of the night
-       living alone and having my privacy respected
-       having the opportunity to gamble with my career, because hey, unless I take a few risks I’ll never know what I’m capable of
-       having a whole bunch of great friends with whom I can talk about anything under the sun
-       sitting with a cup of chai at 8am in a sunny living room and having nothing to worry about
-       going to a club to dance, dancing my heart away and returning home safe
-       being able to explore religion and spirituality on my own terms and in my own time. These are very personal things and needn’t be handed down as a compulsion
-       being able to go on a long train-trip, reading books all the way and soaking in the country side, and not being commented on or looked at shadily
-       the joy of making the choices I intuitively want to make, that I may not know much about but feel good about making those choices anyway
-       being able to marry the man I choose, even if he is differently abled and of another religion
-       being able to flirt with a charming man without worrying about the repercussions of doing so in a public space
-       being able to make informed choices when it comes to food, and being aware of the chances I take with unhealthy food
-       wearing the colours I want to wear and not being told to tame it down
-       wearing the jewelry I want to wear, and not having to choose between gold and diamonds
-       being able to switch off my phone and disconnect from the whole world for at least one week in a year
-       walking into a lift and being able to smile at someone else there
-       holding hands with a loved one, and walking down the street
-       being able to work, explore my abilities, build a business or help grow one
-       being able to wear my hair the way I want to
-       being able to sleep on a roof top, soaking in the stars and the moon
-       being able to sit on a hill top, alone, watching the clouds stream past and around, listening to the sounds of the breeze
-       being able to wear make up, and in the colours I choose to wear them
-       being able to get a divorce, a way out of an unhappy marriage and finding my footing again
And I think the list could go on. What does freedom mean to you? 

No comments:

Post a Comment