Freedom

When are we free? What is freedom? What do we have to obtain and or sustain in order to have freedom? As a country we keep this as a mantra and declare it to be truth, but other than those that we have declared with our independence what is it?


I define my freedom as the ability to wake up without fear. Fear of foreign threat, fear of going hungry, fear of not being able to protect the ones I love, fear of not being able to provide for those that I must, fear of persecution for an idea, belief, or non-belief, fear of not being afforded the liberty to roam this land, of confinement, slavery and the fear of not being able to let this struggling mind prattle on with words and a voice that those that chose to listen...actually can.


I envision the loss of this freedom and it's a colorless world with no hope or ambition. It destroys all before it can blossom. Sounds are muted or monotone, even the food is stale and bland. Life is grey and there is no new life just sustaining until after all is wrung from this lifeless society and it ends.


I love where I live. I love those that paved the path that is now my normalcy, and the sacrifices made for those they loved. I love what I know to be free.