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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