In this episode, Juliet and I explore freedom. What is freedom? We have all kinds of ideas about freedom. In the US, when we think of freedom, we often think of financial freedom. A question we might explore is 'how much is enough?'
Here’s what we explored:
we have lots of ideas about where freedom lies
we may think lots of money would give us freedom
Carla notices financially highly successful people experience high motivation when they begin their enterprises. It was fun
Carla notices the same people can get weighed down worrying about maintaining their finances, scared of losing their money
we may think more time would give us more freedom
some people turn to self-employment thinking they would be free of the tyranny of the 9-5
yet sometimes micro-entrepreneurs found they were working longer hours and had less freedom
when we make changes to 'get more freedom', the reality doesn't always match up to our vision
it's interesting how we get caught in an illusion that different circumstances will give us freedom
there is another kind of freedom that everyone wants, freedom of mind
many of us have a negative inner narrative that is dramatic and critical
when we take our thinking less seriously, we find freedom: to see more possibilities, enjoy life more, and feel more alive
there are no set of circumstances: person, place, job, business, hobby that can give you peace
when we make the mistake of thinking that changing our circumstances will give us peace of mind we get caught in cycles of perpetually chasing 'better' circumstances
freedom doesn't come from getting stuff or getting rid of our responsibilities, it is a deeper freedom, it comes from within
the idea of a heavenly afterlife led Carla to believe she had to gut it out here on earth and get her reward later
freedom of mind doesn't mean we don't try to change systems of oppression or get free of oppression
we can use spiritual seeking to bypass life, we can become detached and in denial
you get disconnected and startlingly unempathetic
it comes, like all experiences, from the power of Thought
freedom of mind looks like not holding on tight, trying to control our experience, it's more about opening to the aliveness of experience
what gets in the way of opening to experience is the belief that we can't face loss
loss of things, people, physical capacity, and ultimately death
freedom to accept the human parts of ourselves as well as the divine parts
spiritual bypassing can deny the messiness of our human experience
this urge to only share our wins, our magazine smiles, denies the screw-ups in our life
when people share their messy sides, it feels more authentic, more trustworthy
It's not either divine or human, we're both human and divine
when things are in opposition, the conflict or tension takes all the oxygen
then we look to escape either into base human desires or spiritual detachment
we miss so much when we get caught in the opposition of things
when we open to both, the divine enriches our humanness and vice versa
you can connect to the divine parts of you without all the dogma and judgment
when Juliet went offline, she discovered so much more time available
it's similar to when we stop paying attention from all our controlling, judgemental, insecure, constricting thoughts: there's so much more space
when Carla lived in Vermont with limited internet, she felt really open and enjoyed nature more than before
it's similar to what happens when the noise in our minds settles down
we've lost connection to ourselves
the root of freedom is connection with our deepest self
Quotes and References
Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Grit and Grace by Ken Wilbur
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