These days are all about being free and teaching others how to do the same. Not some jingoistic, anemic freedom, but depth of soul and meaning of life. This is really what I want.
Throughout our lives we have countless opportunities to become more and more free. There is no person in Canada or the United States who starts life in absolute slavery. We can be born into challenged circumstances that were oppressive, but nobody here was born a slave. From that perspective, all of us are born free, and it is only a disservice to people on our planet who are actually born into slavery to claim otherwise. However, with that freedom as a basis of understanding, every single person can become more free throughout their life. There are few people among us who are absolutely free, although there are growing numbers of people who desire true freedom, rather than the “Made In America” version.
This freedom is liberation of thought and action. It’s the ability to reach further within and outside ourselves than ever before. Many people experience internal resistance to a lot of things. We feel incapable of speaking in front of groups, dancing the wildest salsa, or raising successful children. In a different but related way, we argue with mainstream media, despise our representatives in government, and demean public institutions. Others still negate politics, put down youth, or frown at people of different races. While all of these are choices, every single one of them represents very limited decision-making. They show narrow constraints of mind that limit, rather than free us.
By sustainably connecting to the world within and around us, we can discover the true freedom that is ours by birthright. That means that just because we are alive, we are fully capable of being free! Including you.
Reach within Heartspace and explore what makes you come alive, what enthralls you. Find the things in the world around you that you are concerned about and reach towards those, find out what connects you to them, and get into them more. If you are concerned about building community, have your friends over for a party. If you know you could be the next Michelangelo, paint your Sistine Chapel ceiling. If there are things within you that you are afraid of, go towards them on purpose. Afraid of being poor? Give all your non-essential money to charity. Scared of the dark? Sleep with less and less light until you are at peace without seeing. All of our imprisonments are roadways to freedom that are waiting to reveal themselves. Our job is to remove the barriers to those roadways. We are all capable of that.
This is the depth of soul and meaning of life, and it frees me to share it with you. This is my liberation. Brazilian educator Paulo Freire once wrote, “The greatest humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves…” Whether you see your oppression or not, this task applies to you, too. Heartspace can be your road to liberation… ready to travel?
Adam F.C. Fletcher 