Like this:

Here is an article from the local newspaper here:

A TRULY FREE SOCIETY

-ALEX PETRUSEK

Imagine a world of total personal freedom.
While laws would still be enforced, you’d be free to speak your mind at all times, regardless of the social consequences. Whatever was on your mind, whatever you liked, disliked, or were indifferent to, could be spoken without irreparable social retribution.
Let me offer simple parameters, however;personal freedom does not give you license to be a jerk. Being free does not entail interfering with another’s ability to be free. You cannot bully or domineer.Freedom simply requires speaking your mind and acting as you please(within legal limits).
How different would your life be from what it is now?
Would you dress the same way? Men: Would you wear the same faded black t-shirts and loose jeans? Women: Would you wear whats fashionable that year, or would you opt for something more unique?
Consider the role of honesty also. Whatever you think, you could say with total impunity. What would you say to the people you know? What would you say to strangers?
Such freedom comes universally, however. Remember, everyone else has the same personal freedom to do as they please. Honesty comes back into play again. Whatever someone might be thinking about you(or anyone/anything else) they’ll have no problem with sharing it.
Think of the larger social implications, as well. How different would your job be if everyone were suddenly given the opportunity to tell the boss exactly what they thought about “the company good?”
Speaking of jobs, in a world of maximized personal freedom, would anyone work at all?
Living in such a society would require solid security in one’s own perspective and identity. The sheer amount of truth would be overwhelming for anyone else save for the socially ignorant or the sublimely patient.
So would you be able to live in a world where a person’s truth is so prominently displayed?
For better or for worse, our society won’t have to confront the phenomenon en masse. But personal freedom, even in our reality, presents an interesting thought experiment on the human condition. Who considers themselves personally free? Where does personal freedom come from?
Personal freedom stems from two seemingly opposite places; ignorance and perspective. We either act as we please because we don’t know any better, or act as we please because we know our actions are ultimately insignificant in the grander scheme of life. The comparative risk of saying what you think/feel is outweighed by the benefit of being true to our own perspective.
While the hypothetical world I outlined above may sound implausible, I offer this; there are already people who live whole lives maximizing their personal freedom. Now, I don’t know if they’re any happier than the rest of us, but the ones I’ve met rarely carry the weight of the world on their faces.
They usually look… free.

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I would like to address two points from this article. Who considers themselves personally free? Where does personal freedom come from?

When do I feel free? Take the case of Kiranjit Ahluwalia. She was a victim of domestic violence in England. One day she could take it no more after years of  being subjected to torture and she burnt her husband to death. While that is not the point of discussion here, the first words that she said when she went to prison was this: ” I’ve never felt this free before”. How can someone feel free even in prison?

The other day we were rating our tendency to feel free on a scale of 1 -10 and one of us said 10! She chose it to look at it that way and that’s why she feels free! Interestingly, we talked about being bound as well. Case in point, we compared being single (and ready to mingle) and being married. Getting committed into a marriage is being bounded for the rest of your life, but when you have found your soulmate, the one who you pour out your love to, even though in a way it is like being bound, it is still being free. In a way, I feel that is because the search has ended or you know this is the person you are sharing and caring for for the rest of your life and that sets you free. Same is the case with the purpose of life. If you have found it you know that is your being and your call and that is freedom from aimless travelling without a destination. You know where you are heading towards and that is all you need! It is all in the attitude. Like the article says it is in the perspective!

Where does this freedom stem from?

I read this somewhere:“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.” ~Thucydides

True! When you pursue your life’s purpose, you derive joy. For the freedom to do it, you need courage! There is fear of failure, success, fear of change and reaction to that change. But ultimately overcoming these fears gives the freedom to be the person who you really are. I feel that is where personal freedom comes from, from courage to change and to pursue your dreams!

The question is how to overcome these fears? Quoting John Bunyan (I found this here, kind of related from a different angle (again in a different perspective!) : http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2010/02/01/on-the-importance-of-“no”-2/)

“For all that I have suffered, I do not regret the problems that I have faced – because they are what brought me to where I wanted to arrive. Now that I am close to death, all that I have is this sword, and I hand it over to whoever wants to follow their pilgrimage.
“I carry with me all the marks and scars of the combats – they are the witnesses of what I have lived through, and the rewards for what I have conquered. It is these cherished marks and scars that will open for me the gates of Heaven.
“There was a time when I was always hearing stories of bravery. There was a time when I lived only because I needed to live. But now I live because I am a warrior, and because one day I want to be in the company of Him in whose name I have fought so hard.”

That attitude does help to overcome fear!

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