The human experience is a continual experiment in choosing.
Yet do we even see the choice?
Allured by the apparent strength of our circumstances, we can feel trapped, conditioned into a narrow palette of acceptable options. A lot of beige (yuck), masquerading as silver and gold to an earnest mind determined to succeed.
Work hard.
Pay the bills.
Buy a house.
Work hard enough to pay for the house.
Save for the holidays.
My discontent with professions and systems that push people towards insecurity, constantly chasing more, sparked a rebellion against accumulation and consumption (and the lack of unique colour splashing).
Often, it isn’t what we acquire that makes life better.
It’s what we release.
What we let go of.
I want to support your freedom.
Because if you are free, then so are we all.
Be your own medicine.
Make choices that nourish your authenticity.
Why not take the vacation here with me now?
What I’m pointing to is the freedom to step beyond prescribed paths and remember that you can choose.
Scheduled days.
Predictable routines.
Lives aligned with society’s rhythm.
There is comfort in the prescriptions. It quiets the inevitable anxiety that comes with deciding how to live. Following the tribe can feel safer than finding your own way.
And at the same time...
We are free.
There is no predetermined human nature.
We literally make ourselves up as we go along.
Modern culture provides a compelling veil over this truth.
We are encouraged to follow advice before listening to ourselves.
Yet following advice too closely can create a kind of false authenticity. The art of living as you becomes a replica, not the beautiful, messy, unique, expressive canvas it was always meant to be.
Meeting each moment with childlike curiosity creates the real thing.
An authentic process.
After all, who decided that certain activities are inherently more valuable than others?
Who decided work is superior to wandering?
Productivity more meaningful than presence?
Achievement more worthy than joy?
Take the idea of intuitive eating and carry it further.
Into intuitive living.
Feed your soul.
Let go of good ideas before they become rigid rules.
Trust yourself enough to listen.
Trust life enough to respond.
True wealth is waking up and noticing that everything on your schedule is there because you chose it.
In the words of someone who actually spoke with academic validity on this point;
“Once freedom lights its beacon in man’s heart, the gods are powerless against him” Jean-Paul Sartre
Light your own beacon and pass on the colourful flame, when you are free, then so are we!
