Hello Autumn—with its pumpkins, apples, squash, chrysanthemums, asters, cooler temperatures, and colorful falling leaves … And yet another blog posting for 2010.
After listening to Jonathan Franzen, author of the novel Freedom, being interviewed by Terry Gross on the NPR program Fresh Air, along with reading previous reviews of the book, there have been inner stirrings and motivations to express some of my current worldview and perspectives. This inward flame has been further fueled by the outcries I‘ve been hearing during the past few months in the U.S. about our individual rights and freedoms here. And in addition to all that, Oprah Winfrey has chosen Freedom as her recent book club selection.
What is freedom? For me, this question has been like a big energy container I have dived into and explored from various positions and matrixes throughout my Life. And as I See my numerous freedom explorations today, each one was a co-creative dance between the Me I was Being at the time, the cultural context I was amidst, and the matrix of designs I dove into. (As I am using the term, a matrix is an enclosed composite of patterns an individual has energized in relationship with other spirit-being humans, from which events and experiences emerge.)
Currently, some of my conclusions about freedom are:
* Culturally-speaking freedom is relative, usually contrasted with one‘s own
potentially uncomfortable limitations,
or with others‘ shackled lives and experiences.
* Also culturally-speaking, what is said to be freedom is contextual,
within a culturally agreed upon matrix of designs for a time and place.
* Some people I have known have used the concept of freedom to mean
primarily doing what they want to do, when they want to do it. (“Don‘t fence me in.”)
And from where I am now, I See a wholer, fuller freedom as Liberation from one‘s culturally conditioned mind. To achieve that Liberation, I think an individual needs to become aware of their operating patterns for Life, have a strong desire to change them, figure out how to be effective with their removal, and be skillful enough to construct entirely new ones that are not just retreads of one‘s own or other available cultural constructions. From my point of view, this is a formula for An Expanded Personal Power, which can be an interesting framework to use for playing with one‘s Life.
With Love and Best Wishes, J
