Freedom 101

When I am sitting in a train, I think of walking freely outside; when I am walking freely outside, I miss the comfort of sitting in the train. When I am in a group, I miss my solitude, and when I am alone, I fear of missing out. What am I chasing? Am I a prisoner of my psyche? Maybe we all are… in some ways, and perhaps that’s why every story, regardless of the plot, expresses the desire to be free. The world appears to be free today, people are independent and have the liberty to voice their opinions. The plot was different a few centuries ago and independence was the most sort after thing as captivity was tangible. Today we are prisoned again, and yet freedom has lost steam because today’s prisons are intangible to the naked eye and mind. The world has seen a tremendous transformation in the definition of freedom over time.

Prison of emotion

Since young age we have been talked about finding a life partner. During college this drive to get into a relationship is stronger. As we grow a little more, most of our discussions are centered around dates and exploring love. After a while, we subconsciously start believing that if you are single… then you are incomplete, if you are not with someone… then you are not whole, if you don’t feel like being in a relationship… then you are broken.  And then, suddenly, you find this one person who you’ve never met before, never known before, who fits in your life perfectly, and you are immediately complete. They make you feel special, you enjoy being with them and life appears to be all set… For three months. That’s it. Statistics say that 90% of the relationship that start in college, end. Divorce rates around the globe have doubled in the past four decades. And in places where divorce is a cultural taboo, people secretly regret their decision or hope that their partner dies. I wonder how can real life experience of love be so different than what we have been always taught. Have we been unknowingly put in the prison of love? The only logical interpretation here is the generation who have always been forced to find love and made to feel incomplete without one, was never taught how to be alone… was never talked to about handling loneliness and never, ever, told that there is no dishonor in being single. So, naturally, we did not take the efforts to understand our own self, to find peace within and more importantly… to love our self. We expected someone from outside to mysteriously enter our life and love us for eternity. I’m not saying it’s impossible to find love, all I’m saying is if you don’t know or accept someone hundred percent for the way they truly are then you are not in love with them, you are just in love with the idea of love. And that’s a big imprisonment of your emotions.

Prison of abundance

A survey in 2019 showed that the daily average of social media usage is 144 minutes which is 36 days a year. At one level this is a great tool for society to uplift but what are its implications on human psyche is been rigorously investigated. Harvard conducted a study to show that engagement to social media and cell phones releases a chemical called dopamine in brain. It is this chemical that is associated with pleasure sensation and is the same chemical that is released when people have sex, smoke, or gamble. In simple words – it is addictive. The other reason for it being addictive is its abundance. Internet is everywhere, its cheap and easy to access. Technology has prospered to a point where everything from education, banking to entertainment is available at our fingertip. Doesn’t that mean things should get done faster leaving us more free time for self-care? But today, in my free time, I don’t look out of the window and think independently; instead I turn back to the same internet for entertainment. I either pick up my phone and start scrolling through my timeline, or watch a movie on OTT, or just turn on my Spotify playlist. There is no void left at any point in my day wherein I pause, day dream or just think about old times. Our free time, and essentially our drive for creativity is taken captive by constant entertainment and its abundance

Prison of free will

With abundance comes the desire to manifest everything one wishes. Modern world has romanticized the thought of free will, and today nearly every story gives out the same message of following your heart as an expression of living your life to the fullest. Consequently, we feel that buying a certain brand of clothing, eating exotic meals or going on an expensive holiday is exercising free will. However, most of our free will is influenced by what other people are doing or what’s currently trending on social media. We think doing all those things is an epitome of freedom. Social networking corporations thrive on this thought because people who believe strongly in free will are the easiest to manipulate. Social media, today, has enough data points to influence you in doing certain things under the pretext of free will. In 2018, Netflix released a documentary on how social media was instrumental in the 2016 USA elections and Brexit. A consulting firm collected personal data of Facebook users to influence their political view and were later fed with posts and ads which would gradually impact their thought process. Modern prisons know they can’t get people to do anything forcefully, so they use the Aesop’s Fable story. It is if you want a man to take off his coat then you don’t blow it off, you just make him feel warm and he’ll take it off on his own. Meaning – if you want a man to buy your product then you don’t force it on him, you just strategically place it on his social media accounts, make him feel that having it is a mark of following his heart, and he’ll buy it at the highest price even if he doesn’t need it.

Prison of resentment

Human mind is a complex web of thoughts and emotions. Its ability to think and analyze situations has created wonders but it has also created hurdles. I have been guilty of over analyzing situations and blaming life for being unfair at times. Maybe we all are at some point in our life. There were times when I dissed life and began resenting it for taking away things that I deserved, and for nasty things that just kept happening to me. I didn’t realize it but being resentful towards life was the stupidest thing to do. Life is not always straightforward, its not always fair. As life progressed, I realized that there were times when life was generous and blessed me with more than I deserved and there were times too when it took things away. Perhaps that is nature’s way of maintaining equilibrium in this universe. Its easy to play the victim card and hold resentment but deep down we are creating a prison for our own self. It’s a prison made with walls of grudge, of vague assumptions and uncertainties, that which opens out only one way – in regret. Anne Frank sums it up nicely in her book saying that dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.

What is freedom?

Freedom is just a psychological concept. A concept which does not have any physical shape or form. Freedom is protecting geographical boundaries, but it also means exploring within. Freedom is knowing you have possibilities, but it also means knowing when to move on. Freedom is acknowledging diversity and exploring the different dimensions of life, but freedom is also sitting down alone and looking out of the window day dreaming. However, there is one thing that stands out in every version of freedom’s definition; and that is people abuse freedom. As much as we advocate freedom and liberation, human race needs some form of imprisonment to maintain the decency and equilibrium of life. And freedom gives you that freedom to choose your imprisonment. Imprisonment with the right person, imprisonment to a cause because when life flows in a direction, world becomes a beautiful place to live.