'Freedom'. What a big word. What a simple yet complicated term to define, and how fundamental it is for us all. I guess everyone has their own definition of freedom, or maybe not. Maybe we’ve not really thought much about it and we just follow the description that think we should; depending on the circumstances, the culture or the family in which we’ve been brought up.
If I had to talk about what freedom is for me, I would probably use many unexpected words. I would talk about individuality, responsibility, self-imposed limits and control… self-control. Freedom: that was the gift of God, and all we’ve done is reject it. Nothing worse than insulting the divine kindness…
There is something behind freedom that we usually call ethics; a bunch of beliefs drilled inside our head and soul. It has not supposed to be a collection of dictated, lifeless ideas, but the universally consensual and individually embraced source of our actions. To have ethics in these terms would grant freedom, because freedom has a lot to do with acting to preserve the peace and the integrity in all of us. Freedom is about being truly human, about respecting yourself as you respect others, about avoiding harm to us and to others, about controlling our impulses in the name of something beyond them, in the name of peace, humanity, or love. Freedom, at the same time is about not allowing anyone to disrespect or subjugate you. Neither it is about people controlling our ethics or our way to express them.
Freedom starts from an inner decision, from an unconditioned commitment with our own selves, for our own good, as well as the good of others. And it does not work in the opposite way. Freedom is basing your actions on an ethical conviction, loving yourself as much as you love other’s love for themselves. 'Freedom'. What a big word... the bread and water of human soul, the hardest job, the key of peace, the seed of all creation, the condition for love to exist, and the mark of human identity.
