Freedom. It’s what we as humans all crave, deep down. But freedom is only a concept for the incarcerated.
And we are all incarcerated.
We’re all living our lives within the four walls of a self-inflicted prison, denying ourselves what is ultimately our birthright: freedom. The fact that freedom is even a thing we strive for, shows how deeply we’re all held captive.
As we grow up, so do the four walls around us grow.
Higher and higher. Before we know it, we’re living our lives in a box that’s been built for us by society, a prison we never really had a say in but one that we allowed to get built around us because we didn’t know any better.
Before long, those four walls feel like home.
They feel familiar, safe, comfortable. We might even decorate the walls with ornaments and artwork, making them feel appealing and even more homey. We settle in for the long haul.
We go about our lives keeping ourselves busy, thinking that we’re in control, that we’re making decisions. We interact with other people, maybe even form relationships with them, all the while we’re enclosed in our four walls and they in theirs.
We believe we’re living life.
But all we’re doing is moving around within this small space that confines us, never really making any progress and never really in control.
The sad truth is that most of us never even realise this because we’ve become so good at lying to ourselves, we’ve built such a strong façade around us that we believe our own deceit. We’ve dedicated our lives to building and reinforcing this façade that seeks to mask the reality of our situation. We’ve poured all our energy and resources into it, preventing ourselves from ever seeing the truth. From seeing what is.
Instead, we’re constantly seeing what isn’t. We’re seeing the façade and believing that it’s life.
We never dare look at the window, let alone through it. Some might catch a quick glimpse, but quickly turn away. For if we look, we just might see. And once you see, you can’t unsee.
The truth cannot be unseen and once it’s seen, there’s no going back.
Your four walls will become just that: four walls in which you’ve been imprisoned your whole life. You see that, actually, you were never really imprisoned at all. The door was never locked.
In fact, there is no door and there are no walls. It was all a figment of your imagination, a mirage that you mistook for reality.
Questions to reflect on