The meaning of freedom

RelocationJunkie

by RelocationJunkie

Story

What exactly is ā€œfreedomā€?

Personally, I find it such an ambiguous term.

Is it the ability to do what we want, when we want?

Or the authority to choose what happens in our lives?

Perhaps itā€™s the liberty of not being dependent on certain emotional, physical or cultural restrictions surrounding us?

Could it be the feeling of being uninhibited by the influences of other people around us?

I would guess most of us would likely say that we desire ā€œfreedomā€ in our lives.

However, Iā€™d be really interested to see what different people actually define as freedom.

Additionally, Iā€™d also love to see what people would do with their own definition of freedom – if they actually got it.

Iā€™m curious. Whatā€™s your definition of freedom? Have you ever thought about it?

As Iā€™m writing this story, Iā€™m sitting at the AGP airport in Malaga, on the way home.

Iā€˜ve just spent the last 10 days here with my bestie.

One of my favourite people in the world.

She is one of the most loving, caring, generous and thoughtful people that I know.

I walked her towards her gate not 10 minutes ago.

As I watched her walking past the passport barrier I felt a warmth in my heart.

Itā€™s been lovely having my bestie around. Despite having our ups and downs.

After dropping her off, I start walking back towards my own gate.

I wandered past a surf shop loudly blasting out Kā€˜NAANā€˜s ā€œWavinā€™ Flagā€ song ft. Will.I.Am and David Guetta.

ā€œWhen I get older, I will be stronger, theyā€™ll call me freedom, just like a wavinā€™ flagā€ go the lyrics.

As I trundle by I feel my heart and spirits lift. I feel excited and ā€œfreeā€ all of a sudden.

Why?

Because much as I love spending time with my bestie, there is something amazing about being in a place solo.

Having the world at your feet and the feeling of having a stream of destinations at your fingertips.

This is especially true in the current times of COVID-19.

ā€œDonā€™t walk too close to peopleā€.

ā€œDonā€™t forget to wear a maskā€.

ā€œDonā€™t travel if you donā€™t have toā€.

ā€œDonā€™t meet in groups of more than 6ā€.

ā€œDonā€™t wash your hands for less than 20 secondsā€.

ā€œDonā€™t listen to the mediaā€.

ā€œDonā€™t touch anything without disinfecting it firstā€.

Such a focus on restrictions.

It makes me think back to just over a year ago.

Back to the time I quit my job, moved to a new country and started a new life here in Spain.

I moved without a job, without a backup plan, but with a good amount of money saved up and a personal freedom plan:

– Move to Spain

– Learn Spanish

– Travel around Latin America

– Write a book

– Start a business

I managed to accomplish all of those items on the list except the last one.

Technically it was a time of (almost) unlimited freedom.

Yet thinking back on it, I donā€™t actually think I did feel ā€œfreeā€.

Instead, I actually felt confused.

Without the structure or pressure of a job, school, partner, media or internal compass telling me exactly which direction to head in, I felt a little lost.

Outsiders saw my time off as the ultimate escape from life.

I saw my newfound freedom as the beginning of re-discovering myself.

Magic.

Ā© RelocationJunkie 2020-10-03