Freedom · 11:45pm Jan 23rd, 2013
So, over the past couple of months, I've been thinking about freedom. If this is too pretentious, proceed to mock me in the comments.
Freedom (noun)
1) The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.
2) Absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government.
As described in my handy, dandy dictionary.
The definition of freedom is known to all, but true freedom is a rare thing to come by for any of us. Not the 'freedom' of choice, like deciding if you want to have vanilla or chocolate ice cream, but genuine freedom. I've often thought that it'd be so easy to grab a backpack, fill it with a sleeping bag, small tent and a bunch of supplies, and simply walk away from everything. Just keep walking away from societal pressures, jobs or economical troubles. I guess writing this down is my way of releasing this pent up feeling of just escaping, so just hear me out. I mean, I can't be the only one thinking about running away. The thing is, I believe we've become too attached to security — being secure in our warm, cosy homes, being secure with jobs and being too secure with... well, security. We crave security now, and this leads to a loss of happiness. At the end of the day, ladies and gentlemen, we are animals. Just because we have a higher intelligence, according to our intelligence (yeah, very modest there, humans), doesn't mean that we aren't animals. As such, we should crave freedom. Security will, at times, exactly as it has done numerous times in the past, forsake freedom.
Picture this: you're free. You've got months' worth of supplies, and the world is your oyster. You close the door behind you as the lamppost on the street flickers to a stop. Sure, your relatives will be worried, but you left a note explaining why you had to leave on your adventure. The road awaits, my friend, and though you may not be able to read Trials' stories anytime soon, it doesn't matter. You're simply being there in the moment, enjoying the time that used to fly by so easily, going wherever you wanted to go, doing whatever you wanted to do. Freedom is out there, but all we do is sit by our computers all day, waiting for things to get better. Well, it ain't going to get better until you make it better, buddy. You see, in my opinion, freedom will lead to happiness — freedom is the ultimate status one can ever hope to obtain, as it removes any sense of responsibility or belonging. In my mind, freedom is letting go of everything, which is why people find it so hard to find freedom. It's an extremist view on freedom, to let everything go, I know, as those are the things that keep you on your computer, and not outside.
So, you're probably wondering, Trials, if the great outdoors is so great, why are you writing this blog when you could be out there right now? Well, my patient stalkers, I'd answer, I'm afraid I don't have the balls. Letting go of everything is radical — the mental action of removing everything from your life is extremely hard, which is why we never hear about people running away. Leaving all of my family, my possessions, hell, even my pet hamster behind would be too much. The most freedom I've had, however, was when I went camping — the sense of going wherever I wanted to has never left my thoughts, and I don't plan on it leaving anytime soon. There is a main difference between true freedom and the idea of freedom we have in our heads. Freedom is not choosing the colour of the pen, whether it is black or blue, and it is certainly not being left alone in the house when your parents go into town. Freedom — true freedom — is being free of everything. So few claim true freedom, but I plan on claiming it later on in my life. Not too soon, as things have to settle first, but not too late, either. I don't want to grow old with regret. Even if I only survived a week in the great outdoors, I'd much prefer a week of happiness to decades upon decades under the illusion of false freedom.
I apologise if the contents of this blog is somewhat weighty or nonsensical, perhaps a little too weighty or nonsensical, but this is my release of thoughts. What are your thoughts? Has any one of you actually attempted or thoughts of any of this, or am I just off my rocker?
Stay stalking,
Trials
Trials, how big is your backpack?
Freedom is ... a type of power. Power is the capacity to mold the world according to your will; freedom is that, but just for the part of the world that is yourself. You need power to have freedom, of course. And you don't sound like you're in the sort of situation where you could have power but be unable to apply it to freedom.
IMHO, survivalistic freedom is kinda silly. That's like "freedom, but if there weren't any humans". But there are humans!
I know exactly where you're coming from. I often find myself sitting down in my chair, wondering about things exactly like this.
It is definitely a legit point, but I think there's a reason why we don't do that: A majority of people would die of boredom. I mean, sure, there are the people that love the outdoors, but there are others that base their lives off the sciences and education (among other things), and making them let go of all of it . . . well, that would be hard, to say the least.
744362 Fucking massive. Like, you know those climber/survivalist bags? That kind of bag.
Trials, you need to get yourself a nice Honda cruiser and hit the open road! Just go for a day long ride. I do that a LOT in the summer.
744393
Oh, I kept thinking of like a school backpack, can't barely keep any of those things in one of those.
744369 I mean, I'm not saying that humans would impede freedom, but it's just less likely to have someone who shares your ideals. Companionship would be great, I suppose, as long as you appreciated the same things.
744392 Yeah, that is true -- especially now that we've adapted to technology and such. Personally, if I got bored, I'd just keep walking until something happened, but that's just me.
This may be why the furry fandom is so big.
744397 Aw, I wish I could, man, but I'm too young to drive. Plus, the expense of the bike and fuel would be way too much for a anything I planned. I'll probably do something like that when I'm old enough, though.
I'm guessing that's where your name comes from, right?
744406 Yeah, backpack was a bad word...
744461 Wait.. wut?
744486
That's basically what it's about: literally becoming an animal, finding a mate, and raising a family in the middle of the woods, away from everything that's wrong with the world. Well, that's the basic idea anyway.
744468 Yeah, that is where I got it!
Not only do I ride, I work on them as well.
744452
There is also the personality of the person. Let me compare to ponies. If you had a person like Rainbow Dash -- outgoing, not afraid of anything -- You would have the perfect type of person for this type of "freedom".
Whereas someone like Fluttershy -- shy, introverted (and assuming that the person does not talk to animals) -- and Twilight -- reading a book everywhere she goes -- would be hesitant, if not even able, to go on a trip for "freedom" like that.
That was deep .. hm, and, yea, such thoughts are interesting indeed, and it goes mostly back onto your own definition of freedom.
)
(Hereafter, are my opinions, please, take no offence if I disagree with something
So, I don't completely agree that by your definition full freedom is truly happyness. I mean, aren't people happy when they feel secure in their house, say, when the outside environment is feeling threatening in some way, regardless if it's from bad weather, darkness, or something else that might frighten the individual?
Anyhow, that's really not what I was trying to get at with this comment, heh. I wanted to point towards the Internet. I'm doing what I can from my position to stand up against things that decreases the freedom and anonymity of the Internet. 'Here', we have some kind of freedom at least. You can decide what you want to spend your time doing, from pretty much anything, and if you choose to, you can be (almost) completely anonymous.
To me, that's one kind of freedom, to be able to choose what you want to spend your time doing.
The kind of true freedom, the one you mentioned, is, as others have pointed out, hard to achieve. I guess if you'd leave society behind, you'd still have to obey to the environment around you, beeing built by some civilisation or not.
Summarizing: Freedom is up to definition. Right now, I feel pretty free beeing able to spend time doing what I enjoy.
---
Additional comment: And, I hope that made some sense, heh, I shouldn't be trying to write comments like these after beein awake for soon 20h
M
To long. Didn't read but i'll assume what you say is golden.
744440
All of humanity is your companion.
We've become attached to security. Yes, but also we've become lazy and we're slowly losing our survival instincts. And, my dear friend, being "afraid" to leave everything behind is not lack of balls, is simply because human nature is to keep company from and for other. Needless to say, human kind can't be alone. World out there is hostile and we all need someone to help us facing it.
Also, can we really say what freedom is? Or even better, are we truly free?
Freedom:
"The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint."
Really? We are always bound to act in some way, it is either on schools, houses, restaurants or even in society itself, we alway have to act according to some rules. So, where our freedom is?
Try this: Create a new shape or think in another color.
We can't. Why? 'Cause we are tied to think into something that already exist and we can't do anything about it, well... we can but society will see you as if you were crazy.
My OWN conclusion is: We're and will never be truly free.
Unfortunately, in the wild you can't watch ponies.
744417 Well, the only thing large enough to present a threat in my area would probably be a badger.
Nasty little shits, though. I get what you mean — animals wouldn't exactly be the only danger if I did such a thing. Disease could pose a threat, if left unattended, which is something I'd have to prepare for. I've been doing what you said; it's surprisingly relaxing just to sit outside in a forest for an hour or so, just thinking about things.
744492 Oh.
My opinion on furries have now drastically changed.
I thought it was just about the porn...
746732
Not anymore than Ponyfic/Ponyfanart is.
746737 True that, but furries don't base their preference of the community on a TV show.
746749
This:
And this:
Though I suppose a lot of furry stories are only inspired by The Disney Afternoon or Sonic.
746776 Well, you learn something new every day!
744504 Yep, I'll agree with that. Freedom is definitely a word with too many definitions...
There is one point I'll dispute, though. Going on the internet and deciding what you want to do isn't exactly freedom. You have a choice, certainly, but not complete freedom. There are countless ways one can waste away days on the internet, but it's still limited compared to true freedom.
Plus, you do make sense.
I put off writing this blog for quite a while in fear of it not making sense, but nobody's mocked me as of yet.
744507 Aha, the one time it's not insulting to you when I say "get lost".
Seriously, though, I'd consider it.
744531 Nah, probably not.
tl; dr version: Freedom is going into the wild and letting go of everything.
746948like I said; what you say is golden.
744692 Well, that's a crock of bullshit, isn't it? Not to be insulting towards you, but do you honestly believe that? There are people in this world who would rather sell you into slavery than be anywhere near you. I'm not saying the majority would, but even so. I doubt that seven billion people would want to be my mate.
744811 The biggest predator where I live is a fox, or at least something with a similar size. The only predator I could think of that could actually cause harm would be flies and/or disease, but that could be easily prepared for. Believe me, I've given it a lot of thought.
I'd love to be able to have lucid dreams, but the worst thing would be waking up after one. Could you imagine? Like, you're flying through the skies, doing all sorts of crazy stunts, and then you wake up to find yourself laden with the foreboding sense of exams. I'd hate that more than how I live now. That film, Avatar, gives a pretty good demonstration of what I mean.
745020
Well, that's exactly my point. If we leave school, houses, restaurants or society, the rules wouldn't apply to us. Our freedom is where everything restricting us isn't. If we went wandering into a forest somewhere, do the rules of society apply to you? Do you feel the crippling view of other people on you? No, you don't, because you're not in society. I agree that it would be very hard to let go of everything, but that's what it would take to have ultimate freedom.
747025 You may be right, yet I still consider freedom to be an utopian idea. Why? Because even if we decide to leave everything behind THIS instant we will still be dragging experiences and values we have gained through the years. For me the only way to be free is to born in a completely wild environment. No parents, no society, no nothing. Only you and your survival instincts. That way you will never know about rules, laws or any of that shit, you would not even know the difference between good and bad, you'll be acting for mere instinct.
747521 Whoa, we're getting really deep now... It's funny how freedom is usually spoken with low regard, but now it's fully defined.
That may be correct that true freedom only comes to those born of it. I'd rather go out and try before moping about it my entire life, though. As a wise dragon once said, 'What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?' Although the quote speaks about good and evil, it can still be related to the topic. It may be too late to experience true freedom from birth, but I'll damn well try to experience it now.
747914 I like how I have better conversations with you than with some of my "mature, wise, philosopher" friends (as they call themselves). They can't even keep track of their own thoughts.
Look at this!
" A free spirit is the one who thinks differently than is expected of him by reason of his origin, social background, status and function. Or, by dominant opinions of his era." - Nietszche.
I got that while reading a psicology book. And, acording to my point of view, we can be free by giving up to what "popular believes" say and start thinking in our own things relating them to our own perception of things.
746962
no no, not that kind of companion!
like
all of humanity is there, to be interacted with.
it will often be negative interaction.
but it's there, and it's not going to not be.