#1283 - am I free?
A dear friend and mentor, who's going through a challenging time, still finds the energy to enlighten me and inspire my thinking with his words. He shared his reflections on freedom this morning. And as he always does, he triggered my mind.
I wrote about freedom in the past. And I'll write it again in the future. Because freedom is such an elusive concept that I'm aware I'll never fully grasp it.
Can we really define freedom?
My friend shared this quote from Paul Tillich, "the nature of freedom is to determine itself."
So, maybe it's not for us to define freedom because the moment we define it with words, we are setting boundaries.
Probably, that's why we usually define freedom by focusing on what it is not than on what it is. We talk about the lack of boundaries, limitations, norms or constraints.
Yet, we know that freedom is not just that. People can be free even when they are bound, limited and constrained.
So, defining freedom feels like a vain quest.
Yet, freedom is one of my life values.
Maybe, being free is precisely that; being able to experience and embody something even when I can't define it.