Permission to Be Free

Each person who gives herself permission to be free gives the people around her permission to be free.

The world needs mirrors and role models of freedom and sanity, especially now.

It needs people to have the courage to show others what freedom looks like and that it works.

Without that, we’re all lost and imprisoned by a reality that is insane but that we’re all agreeing on. It is by not agreeing to this reality that we can shift it for us and for others.

Everyone is waiting for someone else to mirror this freedom so they feel safe enough to do it themselves, so they don’t have to do it alone. Then, maybe if enough people do it, they might be willing to try freedom for themselves.

But some of us have to go first—takes the risks, venture forth without a map and light the way for others. This is the path of the mystic...the warrior...the teacher...the guide.

So few of us are willing to do this—to step out of the crowd. We take a few steps and then we stop, because freedom seems impossible and unattainable.

But for every one of us who almost makes it and stops ... it is not just we who lose, but also those who are relying on us to show them that it is possible. They’re hoping that someone will finally figure this out. In fact, they’re counting on it.

This is where the “I” ends and the “WE” begins. What I choose ultimately matters to the collective; it either continues to maintain the status quo or it helps to transcend it.

A tall order—not the easy path—but for me, the only one worth pursuing.