It finally feels like summer! For many folks summer is all about longer days, BBQs, fun-filled festivals, music concerts, swimming pools, beaches, long boarding, camping, water parks....the smell of fresh cut grass on a hot summer day, bike rides, lemonade, and popsicles.....to me summer feels like the ultimate freedom. Summertime is playtime and playtime feels so profoundly freeing! My inner child comes out to play a lot during the summer!
I also love the freedom that I am afforded by being an American. The 4th of July has always held a special place in my heart. I have very fond memories of lighting sparklers with my siblings and our friends as we ate hot dogs and celebrated the freedom in our country. I think our literal freedom is so easy to take for granted especially in this day and age.
With that being said, it seems like people take all kinds of freedoms for granted these days. Many people get caught up in worrying about what others (especially their loved ones) think so much so that they end up not being true to themselves. Or, they tip toe around the real issues, acting disingenuous or completely fake. Or they escape into some sort of mental or physical "abyss" (addiction, etc) to avoid living life the way they want; authentically.
So what would it take for you to actually let yourself BE FREE?
What might you want to change in your life to feel like you could open you arms, spread your wings, and fly? Is there something or someone holding you back? Is there a cost to having your "freedom"? Do you lose something or gain something...or both?
How might you define freedom at this phase or stage in your life? Does it have to do with financial freedom or does that even matter?
What would it take for you to achieve freedom as you define it? For example: freedom in your heart to love how and who you want, freedom in your soul to dance to the beat of your own drum, freedom in your mind to think and speak exactly how you want, freedom in your body to move the way you feel called to move.
This summer, I encourage you to reclaim the word freedom. Let yourself explore what it means to you at this stage in your life. Have you taken it for granted or have you fully embraced it? If the former, can you fully embrace it now?
Whatever or however you choose to do it, find a way to BE FREE. Even if freedom means pausing and breathing deeply for 5 minutes each day to allow yourself more freedom in your headspace then I encourage you to do it.
You get to define your freedom. You get to claim it and reclaim it. You get to own it.
And as always, know you are worth it in your process.
With love,
Candice