Freedom of Mind
At the beginning of the year, I had to spend an entire week in isolation as I was exposed to someone with COVID. After seven days it was my “freedom day”. That morning I went on a walk and I sat down on the river to write in journal. While I was journaling, I wrote down the word freedom and it pushed something in me. What is freedom? The concept of freedom seems to be only made up in our heads. If I achieve freedom in my own mind it doesn't really matter if I'm in isolation for seven days or if I'm outside in the world traveling.
Sitting with the meaning of freedom at the top of my head, the words ‘baby elephant syndrome’ popped into my head. What is Baby elephant syndrome?
Have you ever wondered why circus elephants are not just pulling their chains out of the ground and escaping? The reason why circus elephants don’t even try is that they believe in false limitations. They believe in invisible chains. When they are babies they are chained and are not strong enough to escape. They try till they exhaust, but eventually, they give up. When they're fully grown they could easily rip the chain out, but now they're not even trying anymore. This shows how in life, the stories people have imposed on us can bind us in invisible chains. When someone else tells you that you cannot do something and you believe them, they write your story for you. Believing someone else’s story about you influences the actions that you take in where you see your goals in the future. What we have to do is to learn about ourselves and become more self-aware, more self-observant, to identify these invisible chains so we can break free and live our best life.
Freedom has been learned just the same way. Culture has installed our understanding of what freedom should mean. Ask yourself the question if you would crave the outside world when you are in isolation if you would have not experienced it before? Would you say that you are free if you grew up believing that staying in your apartment is freedom?
The point I'm trying to make is could we enjoy the freedom of our own mind even when we're in isolation if we would know how to do so? We are in some way like the elephant. Only because we are not able to rip the chain out now we are thinking we will be changed forever. We certainly act and behave like it. Life is hard and it really sucks at times. That doesn’t mean we have to be trapped in the moment. There will always come a time when we will be free. We shouldn't hold on to the definition that was made in the past under different circumstances. Because freedom can mean something else depending on your circumstances. A North Korean would describe freedom differently than you would. Physical freedom can mean something different depending on the circumstance. Freedom of mind on the other hand is always at your full disposal. Don’t let the voice inside your head tell you otherwise.