~Freedom is the basic condition for you to touch life, to touch the blue sky, the trees, the birds, the tea, and the other person.~
-Thich Nhat Hanh-
Freedom is a basic condition my life. Since I live in a country founded on democracy, and I don’t have violence perpetrated on me by hostile powers most of my freedom is based on my own personal choices in life. This is a blessing but one that I had to learn.
This freedom can be pretty wrangly to come by too, as sometimes it is really difficult to make choices that truly set me free. Right now most of my freedom seems to center around family values, good health choices, and being at peace with simplicity in life, traveling into the “eldership of my life, and being a good citizen of the Earth and my community.
This is ok and it is easy for me to see when I step outside the boundaries. The big clue appears quickly. I simply don’t feel free and I feel the internal discomfort of that when my choices don’t have a particular bottom line: they need to add up to the value that this choice is good for me and it respects all others.
Today, I am not going to work too hard in this blog, so I am not going to elicit examples of this statement. Trust me, however, there are daily events and thinking and actions upon which I must use this measuring stick.
I don’t always get it right, but I get it right more often than I used to!
Recently I read some comments about the “pursuit of happiness,” and a person of Eastern philosophy and culture said, “It is amazing that Westerners have it in their very constitution that they are “free” in their “pursuit of happiness’.” His take on this was that IF you have to PURSUE happiness, then perhaps you are not FREE.
I think the word, pursue, is interesting in this matter. Pursue has brought about the materialism, consumerism, the “I want more” ism, the Never-enuff-ism and I surely have lived all of these isms. The trouble and truth of this, however, seems to be that in reality, there is never a period after “pursue.” You cannot stop…..there is always more to pursue…..hence no period, no ending the sentence!
So, I have cut down on my pursuing. I am doing more realizing. Happiness is already here, abundantly, for those of us who have at least our basic needs met on the Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs. And I have noticed when my life or work has touched in the communities of the poor and needy, there is a Spirit within them, ones we may call “the unfortunate” and a happiness they communicate and share when they are being helped, respected or when they are celebrating their faith and joy of the Universal Creator. You can’t miss it.
Today in my walk, I will invite the blue sky to touch me, the birds to sing to me, the trees to blow their gentle breeze on me and I will greet the others I meet with joy. I will sip my cold tea after my walk in gratitude for the freedom I enjoy this day.
Inner Freedom and happiness are as exciting as the best Fourth of July Fireworks and Band performances and here they come!
Marine Corps Band on Capitol Hill Fourth of July
Read Full Post »
Napkinwriter 