“Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude”
- Viktor Frankl
In the previous reading, we see internal freedom less of something to achieve and more of an act of personal choice. The moment one realises that freedom is a choice (realise in less of the knowhow and more of the experience) a weight is lifted.
There is suddenly no pressure on how to be free. The power is totally at an individual’s willingness. At that moment, the world around almost pauses. The person who can choose her/ his own freedom can see and involve with the world fully and yet be not bothered by it. The external factors no longer affect. In this space, everything is at ease and an individual can experience complete freedom.
The person who can choose her/ his own freedom can see and involve with the world fully and yet be not bothered by it.
At this moment I particularly remember a design exercise. I was working on an urban development project of a slightly complex nature. There were challenges, and in the group discussion my conversation was something in the lines of, “… this thing works, but the other side of it is…”, and the word ‘but’ was recurring that day more often than I usually use. At that moment, my partner asked me to try replacing the word ‘but’ with ‘and’. Just that simple act freed me up totally. The things that seemed to stop me were suddenly appearing as an opportunity to venture and try on. The ‘and’ brought what else or what more can be done… those questions triggered a different context of the operation.
Replacing the word ‘but’ with ‘and’ gave a sense of complete freedom. I can distinctly remember the slowness at that moment. The idea sank into me so powerfully that the world around paused. At that moment so many new possibilities emerged. There was lightness inside me. There was a genuine experience of freedom.
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