The Only Way to Achieve Freedom is to Tear Down The Wall; And Right Now I'm The Wrecking Ball

Freedom can mean many different things to different people. But I think the feeling of freedom in it of itself, that feeling of peace, is something that has to come from within us, something that sprouts from our hearts and our minds. And what I mean by that is that freedom is not something that can be given to us or should be given to us for that matter, it is not something that we are necessarily entitled to; it is something that we must take. Think of all those people who have redefined history by fighting for freedom, fighting for equality. They never waited for someone to give it to them; they sacrificed in the quest to take that, for them and for others. In the words of MLK Jr., "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed". 

I honestly believe we are the only ones responsible for our freedom. But freedom is much more than being able to do whatever we want, whenever we want. It is the combination of a lot of things, of a good conscience, good health, prosperous futures. To have true freedom, we must be willing to do anything for it, be willing to sacrifice for it. But keep in mind that with freedom comes responsibility, comes the frightening prospect of having to grow up, take ownership of our actions and live with the consequences; and this is something a lot of people can't do. We have all been blessed with the ability and right to make our own choices, to seek our own happiness and fight for our own freedom, however you define it. And in that journey we often times make mistakes, hit road blocks, encounter people who want to oppress our freedom. But I think freedom is just as much what we do with what has been done to us. How do we use our pasts, our memories, those we try to repress, to move forward, how do we use those as motivation for the future. 

To achieve freedom we must also be willing to give freedom. Let those close to you be free, for themselves and for you. It means letting those people tell you what they want to tell you, even when you don't want to hear it; and you doing the same for them. It is fighting with and for others, for their freedom. It is being there for a brother, for a sister, for a friend. Freedom is much more than we make it out to be. Freedom is forgiveness, cleanliness of heart and and understanding that we are simply a small piece of something a lot bigger and a lot more important than us. But like I said, we must be willing to pay the price of freedom; and sometimes this can be a high price to pay.

I have talked a lot about family and friendship. These are the people who help each other, in good and bad times. These are the people who let you have total freedom to be yourself, and feel whatever it is you want to feel. It doesn't matter to them how or what you feel at any particular moment. Real love for someone is letting that person be whatever and whoever they really are. Find your freedom, wherever that may be, but always keep in mind that freedom is never free.