Freedom
Freedom. What does it mean? It's one of those concepts that is different for everyone, and yet the conclusion is the same. It comes down to not being held by something. Whether it's an idea, or something physical, or even something emotional, the precursor to it is being trapped. I question the concept as I question many others such as security and perfection. One person's freedom can be another's cell. Some may say that death is the ultimate freedom, but they can never be sure. In a world where the only constant is change, and nothing is certain...can freedom really exist? Who knows....
Someone's alarm went off two minutes ago. He now will get up, get dressed, and go to work. Technically, he is a free man. I know for a fact, though, that he is trapped. Is it of his own making? Is it a trap that he could free himself of? Is it a trap that he wants to free himself of? Again, who knows.... I will not even suggest that I know the answers to any of those questions. I wonder if HE even knows the answers, but he is the only person who can answer them.
I am also in a trap. This one is of my own making. I could free myself of it, with much angst and pain, but I do not know if I want to. Everything must be weighed and evaluated, and then weighed again. If I decide not to free myself...is it really a trap? They say you can't rape the willing. Can you trap the willing? I think not.
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
-Derek Walcott
Someone's alarm went off two minutes ago. He now will get up, get dressed, and go to work. Technically, he is a free man. I know for a fact, though, that he is trapped. Is it of his own making? Is it a trap that he could free himself of? Is it a trap that he wants to free himself of? Again, who knows.... I will not even suggest that I know the answers to any of those questions. I wonder if HE even knows the answers, but he is the only person who can answer them.
I am also in a trap. This one is of my own making. I could free myself of it, with much angst and pain, but I do not know if I want to. Everything must be weighed and evaluated, and then weighed again. If I decide not to free myself...is it really a trap? They say you can't rape the willing. Can you trap the willing? I think not.
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
-Derek Walcott