People have been saying for weeks, “You’re so lucky!”  They keep telling me how they wish they could do this… be so free. But, what is freedom, really?  

Looking through my journal this morning, I found that entry dated two weeks before we moved into our motorhome. Here’s what I know for certain – freedom is a feeling inside of you.

I also believe it’s within our control. I have felt free all of my life – once I left home and made my own way in the world. I worked for myself the majority of my life. I savored the flexibility and the ability to move-on as needed. I even raised a son on my own, proving that you can have a home, a family, and a job, and still feel free.

Here’s a key point though: freedom looks different to different people. Some feel freer following a traditional path: employment that offers predictability and assurances, in exchange for you doing your work well for a prescribed number of weeks each year. I felt stifled in that environment, have a higher tolerance for unpredictability, and felt freer following a non-traditional path. The price for that was complete responsibility for everything. I always felt it was worth it.

In my journal entry I wondered what this newest version of freedom would look like. I asked, “What am I now free to do, that I wasn’t free to do before, and will life be better somehow… richer and more fun? Will I become a wiser, more loving and creative woman?

A year and later I can tell you that what I am free to do now is to again change location on a whim. I’m free to spend a whole day reading. Regularly. And to take a nap if I need one. And we’re free from maintaining a large home; mowing, watering, weeding and raking a yard. But, I do miss my herb garden terribly. And my bathtub.
In exchange, now we monitor and maintain a motorhome and all of it’s systems.

I can tell you that, yes, I have become both wiser and more loving… and the price for these gifts did not come cheap. Our experiences have made life richer in many ways, although not all have been fun. And, freedom: we have chosen to spend our time going no further than the 80 miles down the highway to San Antonio, in order to stay close to my son who’s been having serious health issues. That’s what freedom is for.

Life happens, both the good and the bad, no matter where you live or what you do. My creativity, my health, my inner-resources, and my relationships have been sorely tested this year, yet I still feel free. 

As I’ve said, freedom is a feeling inside us, not dictated by circumstances. If we don’t feel free, and we want to, it’s our choice to do the work to gain it.

XO Donna