Choosing Freedom | How We Are Taking Action to Claim Our Freedom
Another inspired thought-piece from @mountainjewel (Ini here!).
This is my entry into the #freedomchallenge hosted by @sagescrub. As always his prompts are thought-provoking and inspiring. Check out his post here.
Lately the idea of freedom has been coming up a lot in our household.
Freedom from worry, freedom from stress, freedom from "shoulds" (cultural or self-imposed), freedom to be expressed and creatively satisfied.
Freedom is both a concept and a choice. Freedom DOES relate to external circumstances, but inherently is more about our individual orientation to the events, situation and circumstances in our lives.
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Taking time to smell the flowers (narcissus)
So How are we taking action to ensure our freedom?
The biggest theme that has been coming up for us is reducing expectations and lowering the workload. We are the ones who dictate our lives, yet we have created a situation where the self-imposed work load and expectations have become overwhelming at times...
Wild Water
So what's the big deal of setting high expectations?
Well... It has a lot to do with setting unrealistic and difficult-to-achieve goals. These then trap us into ideas and deadlines and loose ends of unfinished projects. Ultimately this situation does not lead us into a higher degree of freedom. And we got into the homesteading lifestyle because we sought a way of life filled with freedom.
We are the creators and directors of our situation, so why not design our lives to include more freedom?
This is exactly what we are endeavoring this year: including more freedom. More free time, less stress (the ultimate lack of freedom in my opinion) and more autonomy over creating the life we love and desire. Sure our homestead requires our attention, after all we have hundreds of plants in the ground and some need our TLC BUT... What effects do these caretaking obligations have on our freedom?
Time spend appreciating wild triliums
These self-imposed unrealistic expectations rob us of the ability to be truly free humans
Freedom is all about perspective and approach so this year we are choosing freedom over all else.
This is a tough one, because I (Ini) for one have crazy drive to accomplish "things". But if accomplishing things is what I'm after, it will never be enough and my freedom to express my true unique self and ability to enjoy life will be squelched. Not to mention the fact that tasks on the homestead are NEVER over and I will end up running on the hamster wheel.
This is tough for me, but ultimately a choice that honors the longterm commitment we both have to this land, this lifestyle and our projects. Freedom is a choice and this year we are choosing freedom over stressful work loads and imposed expectations!
Unfurling May Apple
We are choosing to reduce our workload and take time for enjoying life to ensure our continued freedom.
With all the externally imposed expectations and cultural norms we live with, it behooves us to take our lives and freedom into our own hands. We are capable of imposing mental slavery or liberating ourselves with the basic and simple thoughts of our everyday life. So today, we choose freedom and release expectations and unrealistic standards.
Yes! We too, are working towards freedom with our family. We homeschool in a very unschoolish, mildly Waldorf-ish way while my husband works from home. It is easy to get wrapped up in the hamster wheel of never-ending to do lists on the homestead! I really try to limit even our social commitments because I find the kids are so much more peaceful when they're free to explore at home, rather than having to get loaded up in the car. For us, it required moving away from the pressures of family that I believe are threatened by our unwillingness to comply to their societal norms. So here we are, starting over on a new homestead, hundreds of miles from our relatives and our hometown, but we love it. It was 💯 the right decision for us!
Good for you for listening to your inner voice. It can be tough to be away from family, but totally respect and understand your point of view. Happy to
Hear you’ve found a more more blanaced situation. The do to lists never end, but I when do we ever make our to be lists?...
Oh wow, resteeming this one because I think I need to reread it monthly. Perfect timing too since the approach of spring means I've been loading more and more unrealistic expectations on my plate.
SO TRUE!!!! Thank you for the reminder on what is really important :)
Glad to see I’m not alone i this, and tickled that you’ve receiving such a good reminder. Writing it reminded me too of the importance of this approach and is solidifying it in my psyche.
Ah self imposed restrictions! Jamie is a shocker for that. 'I have soo much to dooooo' he laments. Only of his own choosing. It's funny when you CHOOSE to stop and smell the roses, or put 'sit and read a book on your list, there's space for that too. Mental slavery is a good metaphor. We can break the chains of our own entrapment. Anyway... must get off steemit.. have heaps to do. just kidding... im having a wine with friends Xxxx
I feel ya. Good tip on putting yin or recreation activities on the list. Been talking about biking more for 2 years and i finally just made it happen!
I can relate to Jamie and there’s this ambitious drIve in so many of us. I think of the line from freedom song “emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but yourselves can free your mind”.
Here’s to more time to enjoy
Ah, the #freedomchallenge. What a great way to invest your inspiration and intellect into something meaningful, and rewarding to others as well. Your message resonates with me, about being real with expectations of outcomes, as well as being real with workloads and possibilities for project completions. To me, there is freedom in calling a project "complete," at the moment when it becomes unreachable or unworthy of my time. It's a sophisticated kind of quitting/giving up, which is freeing because it frees us up to take on different projects.
i like what you're saying about "complete"... It can be tough for me to let things go, but I either let things go or go crazy. We've set ourselves up for success on our current outdoor kitchen, cause it won't last forever, and we don't have to make it perfect. It has allowed more time for other aspects like beautifying. Wren has been a great teacher in this, and letting my expectation down and little has helped a lot.
So many of us can have soft lofty ideas and great intentions, but how they pan out is a different story.
Thank you for participating in the #freedomchallenge!
Hey Ini, I really appreciate your words and your intention. I struggle with the same challenge of wading through many plans and feeling stressed with the work I've created with myself. I am also learning to be OK with not having to get to everything, especially not always right away - its helpful for my sanity! I was glad to read your post because it's helpful to relate in this way and also glad that you are making conscious effort to have balance and happiness in this amazing life we are lucky to live :)
And congratulations! You are a runner up winner of this challenge!
https://steemit.com/freedomchallenge/@sagescrub/freedom-challenge-5-wrap-up-winners-announced
Being OK with how things unfold seems like an ongoing practice... happy to hear you appreciated the post. We are so lucky to lIve this life, but why do so many folks end up so stressed and overwhelemed??? I’m glad we can all discuss this on steemit as it brings us all Closer together.
Thanks for hosting the challenge and sharing some SBD ;)
Such honest and truthful thoughts Ini. We are also so guilty of creating a never ending to do list and then wondering why we feel so tied down and exhausted. We often wonder how anyone ever has time for anything, especially relaxing but it's a restriction we have created ourselves. And with that we must work to create a free and enjoyable lifestyle. Thanks for the reminder. Cheers, Aimee
Hehe I can relate. We impose so much on ourselves don’t we? Would we ask this of anyone else???
Glad you resonated. I try to remind myself of the importance of enjoying and appreciating the moment everyday. Although I’ve got a LONG way to go before I truly claim this freedom I’m seeking.
Putting relax time on to do list is a good idea I came across lately.
Thanks for touching base.
Huh, I do like to do lists and adding relaxing as a line item sounds pretty clever to me. -Aimee