Girlwithoutawatch

Freedom contains the mystery of the world. God wanted freedom, and from this came the tragedy of the world. – Nikolai Berdyaev

No one is free; even the birds are chained to the sky. – Bob Dylan 

Philomena – Mami, when am I going to be free to do whatever I want?

Mummy– What do you mean? What would you like to do that you don’t do already?

Philomena – I don’t get to choose anything. Not even what I eat.

Mummy – Are you kidding? You have so much more choice than I ever had as to what you eat.

Philomena – Maybe I have more choice than you but that doesn’t mean I can choose what I want. I don’t get to choose anything. I have to go to school. I have to eat pasta with cheese sauce even though it makes me gag  just smelling it.

Mummy – Once every few weeks they serve you pasta with cheese sauce.

Philomena – But I hate it. It makes me sick. And no one listens to me about it. I’ve asked politely a million times. It is not respectful not to listen. I am perfectly happy to eat the pasta but not the sauce. It is absolutely terrible to be a child sometimes. I can’t wait to grow up so that I can do whatever I want.

Mummy – Believe me Philomena, growing older doesn’t necessarily grant you the freedom to do whatever you want. You will always be fighting for your freedom (and the freedom of others) in one way or another—you will fight for the freedom to do what you want, live where you want, behave the way you want, love what you want, freedom to change the world around you, to make the world a better place, it is always a battle. Participating in that battle, that struggle, it’s what makes us human. Fortunately, what also makes us human is our imagination. The only place you are ever truly free is in your mind. Freedom is your creative force. And even that takes some practice. I promise you, your mind at age 7 is a whole lot freer than my mind at age 40.

http://keystotherain.net/music/ChimesofFreedom.mp3