What Is Freedom To You?

A group of strangers gathered together last night in the hills of Hollywood to connect and collaborate. ‘What does the word freedom mean to you?’ was the question that we were all asked to answer. The answer from each of us was the emotional tell. The peek under the veil that we all wear to protect ourselves from those we don’t know. It was an amazing thing to watch each person answer as we went around the group. How some shifted in their seat, tilted their head, looked at the floor or around the room. I realized that we were asked a simple question but the answer could have been the question ‘What are you struggling with most right now in your life?’ It made me think that perhaps, freedom for everyone is the ability to let go of what we believe is holding us back. For most it was to be free of something about themselves. Something that they didn’t like or a decision that needed to be made that would further define who they are. Freedom from an old way of thinking. Not one person said ‘freedom meant adding something tangible to their life’.
Ask yourself the question. I can’t predict your answer, but I believe that the greater of two aspects of freedom is subtractive. You’d like to be free of something. The other is additive, you want more of something. However you conceptualize it, your definition of freedom represents a compromise between these desires.
Which freedom do you want most and how do you plan to get it?