As a child, July began with a bang. A bang of fireworks that ended a day of fun activities at Holliday, PA. I looked forward to that day almost as much as I did Christmas. It was easily the highlight of my summers for many years. But most of the other days were pretty darn good. I told my brother the other day that I didn't remember a bad summer. Part of that was based on how much I hated going to school. The other part was the feeling of freedom.
Like many my age, my growing up had a lot of going anywhere and doing anything (within reason) without too many of the mishaps that kids today are so carefully insulated. As long as I was back in time for supper, there was no reason to impose any limitations.
Like many my age, my growing up had a lot of going anywhere and doing anything (within reason) without too many of the mishaps that kids today are so carefully insulated. As long as I was back in time for supper, there was no reason to impose any limitations.
At first, I'm sure I'd been hard pressed to give a definition to freedom. For the most part, it was an innocent ignorance within "given" rules and limitations. Later on, one of experiences that gave more form to that sense of freedom was when my cousins and I were the four freedoms in The Fourth of July parade in that little berg that was so much a part of our lives then.
To be honest, I don't remember what four freedoms we were. But I would guess they were Religion, Speech, Press and Assembly from the First Amendment although there was a fifth that gave the right to petition the government over grievances.
Since we were all Republicans, I doubt if we were the Four Freedoms from President Roosevelt's fireside chat that have become another standard of freedom. But maybe we were. Curiously, two freedoms were essentially the same. And both played contrasting roles all through my life.
But even when I was much older, I still wasn't quite sure what "from want" and "from fear" practically meant, but all four were illustrated by Norman Rockwell in his folksy and memorable way. ...So close enough.
I'm not sure that I could even begin to address all that flows into and flows out of the word freedom. I believe the term is, as they say, pregnant with meaning. I would also add "and differences." Noting that kind of complexity and diversity, I can only offer, in the spirit of this blog, my own sense of freedom.
I want to be as free as I can be in body, mind and spirit. At some point, I would have said good luck with all of that. And now, to look at me, you would have to ask, "So this is what you call freedom?" No, I'm not exactly the poster child for freedom, but I am freer than I have ever been. Here are some understandings that have helped.
1. Enmeshments. The fewer the better.
2. Emotional Thinking. Fun but usually a waste of
time and not very rational.
3. Appearances. Many times they are not what
they appear to be.
4. Unnecessary Judgments. Chances are you are
not all that wise or wonderful.
5. Individuality. Be who you are, not who you
think you need to be.
6. Responsibility.(my mother would love this one)
Don't blame others for how you think, feel,
and behave.
7. Equality. Don't play the PLU's and PLY'S game.
(People Like You, People Like Us)
8. Spirituality. Make the most of what is already
here.
9. Rightness. Sometimes helpful but not always
necessary or possible, especially about
everything.
10. Attachments. Detachment can accomplish the
same thing and look just as good.
11. Superiority. "When was it you started thinking
you were better than me?" Robert De Niro, The
Score 2001.
12. Following. Maybe okay for awhile but at some
place along the way, you'll need to take the road
less traveled.
More, maybe much more, could be said, but I think you get the gist. A lot of my being free is personal and internal as external circumstances are quite varied and conditioned. Even in the best situation, there's not much I can do about what's necessary for the common good and orderly function. Life comes with certain encumbrances, limitations and rules. But what I can do something about is the unnecessary relinquishment of freedom.
I can feel my graduate school voice coming on with some dreadfully boring delineated academic discussion. So it's going to be much better to give an entertaining but poignant example.
Her story is not to say what's right, but to say what's right for her. These aren't the only situations where you can unnecessarily lose your freedom. I remember a seminar with Matthew Fox when he talked about a political campaign that had all the trappings of a rigid religion where the candidate was given God-like qualities and treated that way as well. Here again, many other situations can take this same direction or something eerily similar. Can you say Hollywood? Can you say Apple?
By the end of July, the memories of the bangs and illuminations of that one special day were given over to many more days of taking in the feeling of freedom. Some want to be happy. Some want to be loved. Some want to be smart. Some want to be strong. I want to play in the creek, go swimming at the lake, camp in the woods, lay out under the stars, and never have to go to school again.
