The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines free “…as not subject to the control or domination of another; not bound, confined, or detained by force; capable of moving or turning in any direction…”
The sad reality? We live in a world opposite of free.
How so?
We’re government citizens, bound by the laws created by the powers that be, controlling what we can or can’t do.
At work, we are confined to a desk, computer, car; our behaviors, controlled so that we earn a paycheck.
At school, we are confined to desks and schedules; controlled by teachers, administrators; forced by educational law to attend.
A partner may dictate what to wear, where we go, who we may see—often trading love for control.
If we want to be free, we must ask, what is it that makes us feel we’re not? Is it our job, going to school, a relationship? If so, we can change our circumstances by making a decision to change them.
True freedom isn’t about escaping all constraints—that’s impossible. It’s about choosing which constraints serve our growth and which ones suffocate our spirit.
The question isn’t whether to change, but whether we’re brave enough to choose discomfort over numbness.
Society sells us the comfort of conformity. But comfort and freedom rarely share the same bed.
Quite often, doing what we love isn’t a job but neither is doing it for free when we have bills to pay.
Seek work that feeds the soul, not just the bank. Create space—even minutes—for what makes us feel alive. Freedom grows in small rebellions against the ordinary.
If a classroom feels like a cage, know that wisdom flows through many channels. The internet, workshops, years spent wandering—all teach what chalkboards may not.
Whatever we choose to believe, listen to our gut, our intuition, the silent force inside of us that pulls us in a direction either opposite to or aligned with our current path.
Sit with that silence.
The one that knows when something inside you isn’t right.
That’s the voice of freedom—quiet but clear.
To be free is to be fully alive. To be alive is to know—without question, without permission—that we matter.
And that our life is ours to choose.