Freedom Fighters: What Freedom are You Fighting For?
Freedom is a state of mind. Think free. Be free.
The Fourth of July is a holiday that celebrates our freedom as a country. It’s a day where many Americans alike, celebrate with music, great food, laughs and conversation alongside family and friends, while some even honor the American flag and those who have aided in the fight towards our freedom. But is your freedom celebrated beyond this single date in history? Has your freedom seeped into your daily being?
It’s often said that ultimate freedom means independence, success, privilege and the ability to do anything that one’s heart desires. While so many of us are no longer chained today, when it comes to ultimate freedom many of us remain encaged. We have all been created equally, yet our rights, opportunities and justices still remain unequal. For some people, freedom equates being able to attain a great education, a high paying job, owning a home, car and an array of other things. But to the simple person like myself, my freedom is about being brave enough to go against the norm and just be happy no matter what I attain.
For me, this means going against the norm of solely using education as a stepping stone for just landing a “good job.” I believe strongly that education is a tool that should be used to sharpen your passion in any area of study, not just a thing that is attained to prove that you’re “educated.”
Having a mother who has spent many years creating her success in nursing and a father who has worked extremely hard in his welding career along with an extended family filled with career driven individuals, can elicit a lot of pressure when it comes to finding your own success. I’ve struggled with doing things the normal way. Maintaining a 9–5 job in order to fit in with others’ expectations or doing things differently so that I can produce different results. But it often times takes grit and passion to get you through the journey, not just knowledge. So I’ve fought through with courage and have exercised bravery by sharing my truth, juggling motherhood, working remotely, building my own blog organically and freelancing as a writer to sharpen my skills and create a new path for myself. For me, my form of education is through the projects that are required of me. The experiences that teach me how to be a better person, do things better and help others to be better.
In addition, my freedom means that I honestly share my story, whether good or bad, in hopes that my truth inspires someone else to embrace who they are, where they started, and most importantly, where they’re headed. This means that I remove my fears of judgement, rejection and the possibility of being misunderstood, and still go forward. My freedom means that I proudly walk into my journey of being an aspiring entrepreneur, which is not a definite path, but a series of failures and successes that ultimately leads to great influence. In addition, this means that I must go against society’s expectation of striving for immediate security and stability. Lastly, my freedom means that I break family patterns of unsuccessful marriages, poverty, limitations, lack of self-discovery, among many others.
Despite our continued struggle and fight for ultimate freedom, we must remember that our overall freedom is still a component of our own individual walk and journey. Once we walk uprightly and strong as individuals, creating a small picture, our brightness will eventually unfold and continue to shine as a part of the collective bigger picture. Let’s take a look at other great people like Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Oprah, Tyler Perry, Harriet Tubman, and Thomas Jefferson. All of these people have fought for their individual freedom, along with the freedom of others, to help create a grander freedom for all, in every area possible. They each had a dream which required them to be brave enough to act on it and sometimes stand alone in the fight.
So, in spite of the fractures in our political and justice systems, neighborhoods, or our individual places where we begin in life, we must continue to strive for our freedoms in every way possible. Everything has been cycled down from history, none of which has been a new-found experience. Poverty, inequality, lack of education, low-paying jobs, among other short-comings have always existed. However, like many before us, it is our duty to be the best individuals and utilizers of our own personal freedoms in order to create the necessary change for bettering our world’s freedom. Like I’ve stated before, the key is that we start somewhere — and let that somewhere be within ourselves.
Does your freedom require that you become financially stable in order to provide for yourself and future generations beyond your family’s social norms? Does your freedom require that you formulate an idea that could possibly change the world for the better and bring people together in a new way? Does your freedom require that you use your words in expressing the thoughts that could help uplift and change the views of others? Or perhaps your freedom requires that you help to pave the way for others to follow behind in your footsteps in a particular area of study. All in all, your freedom brings about a type of change that not only affects you and your happiness, but the happiness and success of others.
What freedom are you fighting for?
Shanika is a lifestyle blogger, wife, mama, lover of all things creative, foodie and “The Martha Stewart” of baking (at least in her head anyway). Shanika is a creative at heart, looking to inspire others one blog post at a time. You can follow Shanika on Instagram, Twitter and on her personal site www.orchidsandsweettea.com.
