Freedom

The truth will set you free. I was promised that truth would lead me to freedom.
I’ve spent a lot of time truth-seeking. But how do I know if it’s led to freedom? 

Webster’s says freedom is:
a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
b: liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another
c: the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous 

I like all of these. I’ve been constrained, literally and figuratively. I’ve been restrained by the power of others. And I am being released from something onerous. It’s interesting. Usually I’m drawn to a single definition of a word. Freedom, though, is a loaded term for me. I didn’t know anything about emotional freedom until 12 years ago. I’ve spent the past few years learning about freedom – what it means and how to apply it to my life.

Years ago I sang a song auditioning for a show --

You can't get to freedom by riding on a train

The only way to freedom is right 

on through your brain 

Freedom is a body's imagination

Freedom is a full-time occupation

Freedom's in the state of mind

--“Freedom” from the play Shenandoah

The older I get the more that song means to me. Here’s what I’ve learned. Freedom is choice for most of us. Sure, there are people who are physically incarcerated and there are people, like me, who are or were emotionally incarcerated, but ultimately freedom is a choice. The only way to freedom is right on through your brain because freedom’s a state of mind. So I can choose to remain constrained and restrained by others, by events, by memories, or I can choose to believe I’ve been released from those onerous situations. It’s mind over matter. Belief in myself. Trust in the work I’ve done. 

Austrian novelist Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach once said, “In youth we learn, in age we understand.” 

In my youth, I learned a lot of lies and falsehoods. In middle age I’ve learned about truth and freedom. In age I hope to understand.

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