Freedom: A Choice, Not a Circumstance
Over the July 4th weekend, we, as Americans, celebrated the birth of democracy and the freedoms that came with it. Fireworks lit the sky. Flags waved proudly. And social media—true to form—became a flood of reflections on freedom: some celebratory, others critical, and many deeply emotional.
While I’ve never been politically driven, I found myself quietly sitting with the noise. Not judging it—just noticing it. And then I asked myself a question I couldn’t ignore:
What does freedom actually mean to me?
It’s easy to define freedom as a right—the right to speak, vote, gather, pray, or dress however we choose. These are powerful freedoms. Sacred, even. And I’m grateful beyond measure to live in a country that upholds them, even imperfectly.
But that kind of freedom—the one we celebrate with fireworks and flags—doesn’t guarantee personal freedom.
Because you can live in a free country and still be trapped.
Trapped by shame.
By other people’s expectations.
By generational trauma.
By the weight of roles you never consciously chose.
By a life that checks all the boxes but leaves your soul gasping for air.
You can have all the external rights and privileges, and still feel deeply disconnected from yourself. Still feel like you're living a life that doesn’t fit. Still feel like you’re wearing someone else’s skin.
Then I began to wonder—can someone who is outwardly oppressed still be inwardly free?
Can a person behind bars, or someone living under authoritarian rule, find some form of inner liberation?
And I believe the answer is yes.
Because true freedom isn’t circumstantial.
It isn’t about the world around you—it’s about the world within you.
True freedom is timeless. It lives outside of space, government, or systems of control.
It’s not something that can be granted or taken.
It’s a state of being—a deep alignment with your own truth, your own voice, your own purpose.
It’s the moment you stop living by default and start living by design.
The moment you release the need to be understood and choose to be authentic.
The moment you let go of who you thought you should be and allow yourself to become who you really are.
This kind of freedom takes courage. It often asks you to stand alone. To let go of people-pleasing, performance, perfectionism. To rewrite old stories. To face pain and transmute it into wisdom. True freedom is often an act of pure defiance.
I know it is certainly easier said than done. I also know that there are countless stories of people who have found “freedom” in the most dire of circumstances - prisoners of war, survivors of abuse, etc.
A few inspiring examples are below:
Viktor Frankl survived the Holocaust and became a psychiatrist, as well as an esteemed author. In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, he wrote “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”
Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for fighting Apartheid in South Africa. Even behind bars, he chose the mindset of a free man, envisioning a better future and holding tightly to his principles. After he was freed he eventually became president.
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery and escaped. She then risked her own freedom to guide others to theirs. Despite being hunted and living under constant threat, she embodied a deep spiritual and moral freedom, often saying God guided her steps.
A more modern example is one of the young woman, Malala Yousafzai. She was shot in the head by the Taliban because her and her family advocated for girls’ education. She survived and wouldn’t be silenced. She was quoted as saying, “They thought the bullets would silence us. But they failed. And then, out of that silence came thousands of voices.” Malala went on to become a Nobel Laureate.
What I know for sure is that once you taste it—once you choose it—you’ll never want to go back.
So yes, I’m grateful to live in a country where I can speak, worship, and express myself freely. These freedoms matter deeply.
But I also know:
Personal freedom doesn’t come from the outside.
It comes from the radical act of self-liberation. It comes from choosing to live in alignment with what you hold to be true and right and sacred. Many of us, unwittingly, construct our own prisons.
May we honor both.
The freedoms we’ve inherited—and the ones we must choose for ourselves.
Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? ~ Rumi