The Concept of Freedom

I read a short story by Theodore Dreiser yesterday titled "Free". The story presented a tradtional view on freedom (being free of obligations, being free to do as one wishes without being tied down to anything or anyone) but then took an interesting turn at the end, which I interpretted to mean that we make our own freedom. It's not the circumstances that we find ourselves in or the relationships we form or the responsibilities we take on that hinder our freedom. Rather, it's the prison we create for ourselves in our mind that keeps us fettered and unable to fulfill or our dreams and desires. Unable to explore our spirituality and be true to our innermost selves.

The short story did a great job of illustrating how society's expectations of us paralyze us into acting in certain ways and living certiain lifesyles. The story featured a man who didn't love his wife, yet spent 30 years with her becuase to divorce her would be a social outrage at that time and place in American culture and society. America is supposed to represent freedom yet Dreiser wrote many novels and stories about how this so-called "freedom" corrupts us at our core and makes us distant from our souls and true desires.

And yet, we can overcome this. Going back to my article about strength, it is the strong people who are able to be true to themselves and work within the limits of what they are expected to do, without feeling limited. Some traditional things that may be seen as contrary to our freedom: Having a job, going to school, being a parent, being married or in a long term exclusive relationship, dieting, having to pay bills, pysical ailments, having to look a certain way, taking care of a pet, owning a home, and any other commitments we make a long the way.

These are the things in life that, when focused on too heavily, can distract us from who we are on the inside. They keep us moving in certain patterns and they define the ryhthm of our lives. In many cases, they can prevent us from taking the time to truly look within ourselves and having the courage and "freedom" to go after more spiritual pursuits and a deeper understanding or humanity.

Don't get me wrong- I don't mean that any of these things are "bad" or hampering to our spiritual/personal development. In fact, many of them can be quite fulfilling they give us both a sense of purpose and acheivement. At the same time that these traditional "freedom-hinderers" (as I am calling them now) tie us to certain responsibilities and lifestyles, they ironically free us. But only when we have the strength to see the bigger picture that is ourselves.

Freedom is a state of mind. A woman who works from 9-5 and then comes home to care for two roudy children, make dinner for her husband and then clean the house can be as free as she wants to be. If her job, husband and kids are the product of her true desire for love and personal fulfillment, then the burden of "acheiving" that is lifted and she can exist on a deeper level. But if she hasn't had the time or the strength to explore why she chose this path and is doing it because she thinks it's expected of her (what she is "supposed" to do to be happy and successful) then the continued focus on these things are a barrier to her freedom.