Some conclusions...
First things first: this document just contains my opinions I formed over the course of our three day session and thoughts we discussed.
Freedom, what it means, and how it could be achieved is something we all have some kind of opinion about, whether it’s without giving it much thought beforehand or we actively think about it on a daily basis. That is what makes this experiment a challenge, but an interesting one.
I went into this experience without much preparation (because I am chaotic like that so might as well embrace it), which made it easier to listen to others first and react to their opinions.
Something I personally found helpful was making a list of “Freedom Friends” and “Freedom Foes”. Essentially brainstorming about what gives us a free feeling or makes us happy and which things make us feel anxious and unhappy.
Some things that were written down are: Happiness, tolerance, empathy, self-expression, balance, satisfaction, giving-taking, setting up boundaries, self-care... as things that help with feeling free or possibly “achieving freedom”.
For the more negative list of things that make us feel trapped or causes harm to society: Power (more specifically power hunger), dominance, money, restraints, stress, greed, excessive rules.
Of course it all of the above aren’t necessarily black-and-white, and everything must have its balance.
One of the thoughts that came up during these few days about what freedom actually is and what it means was: Stress, is it a cause of feeling unfree or trapped? How much of our daily feelings of stress is instinct and how much is actually caused by society and the way we live?
How can we reduce our own stress while still keeping up with and functioning in society?
However, we concluded that stress does not equal: nervousness, adrenaline, worrying..., because those are all a natural response to “danger”. Stress is probably the result of trying to keep up with rules of society and what is expected of us, and struggling/ failing in that. So were we maybe at our most free state when we were still hunter-gatherers?
So what my most important keyword is when I think about freedom and achieving freedom, is balance.
Everything we do has an effect on something else. Anything that benefits one individual may very well harm another. So is it ever really possible for all of us to be free at the same time?
Is there a thing like universal freedom? Is freedom a general state of being or can it always only be something momentary? Maybe momentary moments of freedom put us in a general state of happiness, which automatically makes us feel free. So is freedom really happiness, and happiness really freedom?
Rune Gybels